Artists Age Out Loud

She stands with a U.S. flag umbrella over her shoulder, wearing a top made from red, white, and blue ribbon. But she’s no ordinary patriot. There’s a spark in her eyes that suggests something more complicated.

We don’t have the context for photographer Gregory Antollino’s image. Was it at a protest or a Fourth of July parade?

Either way, there is something nonconformist going on, fueled by an energy born from age, not despite it. ​“I’m age 81 but my parade is not done,” her sign reads. Everything in the photograph would lead us to believe her.

“The Art of Aging” (not to be confused with another art exhibition of the same name) is the result of a contest supported by the New Haven-based Homewatch Caregivers, which specializes in providing a variety of support services to seniors, and the J. Mane Gallery. In its call for entries, put out in the spring, Homewatch asked participants to respond to a series of questions: ​“How do you see aging? Is it the thriving lifestyle of seniors taking on new careers, volunteering, or running marathons? Or is it the traditional idea of the harsher realities of aging?” The responses from artists reflected not only their broader answers to those question, but the upheaval of the past few months as the country grapples with pandemic and political unrest — showing that people of all ages are finding a part to play in it.

The exhibit, which is available online, runs through Aug. 31.

Part of the allure of the exhibit is that it doubled as a contest; Antollino’s image took first place. Irena Roman’s Carol took second, for reasons that are easy to see even before one realizes it’s a watercolor. Roman’s skill with watercolors is quite astonishing, from the veins in her subject’s hand to the folds in the fabric of her pants. It’s also the kind of painting that tells a story, even if we’re not sure what. Is Carol a health worker? An artist? What is going on outside the window? The concern on her face, in the current climate, feels familiar.

So, for that matter, do the lines on photographer Andrew Graham’s face, the ones between his brows. The title of his image, which took third place in the exhibition’s contest, encourages us to interpret the image as iconic, standing in for the condition of being in quarantine, worried about one’s health and the health of everyone else, for weeks and months on end. But Graham’s image also has some of the details of just being a picture of a moment, and a casual one at that. Graham may be just getting up in the morning, or just going to bed, and though he may be worried, his posture, chin up, eyes focused with intent, convey as much strength as concern.

The exhibition is also not simply tied to current events, despite their overwhelming nature these days. Many of the images in ​“The Art of Aging” are portraits of people, smiling faintly, or with wry expressions on their faces, or letting a cigarette dangle between fingers, possibly while engaged in conversation. A few high-contrast photographs by Corinne Baker are studies of wrinkled skin, rendering their texture fascinating and — in a society that too often equates wrinkles with unwanted blemishes — beautiful.

In an untitled photograph, Marina Fernandez takes perhaps the exhibition’s most unblemished look at aging, in a short series of pictures of a woman taking care of a man. The closeness and affection they share is obvious; it is tempting to assume they’re wife and husband, but we know that kind of emotional intimacy isn’t necessarily marital. Fernandez’s pictures are about the art of giving and receiving care, and about hanging onto one another through it all.

Sophie Sanders’s image, meanwhile, finds the youthful mind still very much alive in her subject, at rest in the water.

That kind of questing spirit runs through much of the exhibit, which — taken as a whole, responding to current events or not — makes a compelling argument that, for many, getting older isn’t about settling down or becoming set in one’s ways. It’s a reminder that people can keep growing all throughout their lives if they like, tempered by experience yet always looking for the new. It’s not about staying young, whatever the heck that even means; it’s more about changing with a changing world, and perhaps even getting out ahead of it.