London Photo Gallery - Art Exhibitions & Special Events

The Coming of Age

This exhibition at the Wellcome Collection examines experiences and perceptions of aging, including tools for us to age better. It showcases 150 artworks and objects across time periods from around the world.

Since 1963, the Japanese government has presented each citizen reaching age 100 with a comemmorative silver sake cup on "Respect for the Aged Day". While 153 cups were awarded in the first year, the number has risen to over 29,000 by 2014. Nowadays, cheaper nickel alloy cups are given instead.

Charles Darwin's walking stick had a skull on the top as a reminder of death and how precious life is.

This drawing from 1536 shows old people reaching the mythical fountain of youth. They throw away their crutches and walking sticks into a bonfire then have some fiesty fun in the bath house.

This 1890 pamphlet advertises anti-aging pills using the story of Thomas Parr, who supposedly lived to age 152. He had claimed he was born in 1483. After his death, even the king's doctor examined his body hoping to find his secret, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey among the country's most famous people.

This 1920s "violet ray" apparatus supposedly produces anti-aging effects by sending an electrical charge to the scalp, face, and body.

Cyronic freezing emerged in the US in the 1960s as a way to store the body until the day when there is a cure for the diseases that caused death.

This 2020 work by Maija Tammi examines a birthday for someone who will never age, which will be a bit lonely as the creature would have outlived all its companions.

The Game of Life's history goes back to the 1860s with this item on display coming from the 1980s. Back then, a job, heterosexual marriage, and having a baby scored the winning path to life.

Serene Korda's figures challenge the negative sterotypes of aging women. They were modeled on real women aged 44 to 76 from the West Country, partially dissected to show the anatomy.

This photo shows the inter-generational bond between mother and daughter connected by a spaghetti-like string.

The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders is a Japanese social movement that employs people with dementia as floor staff, celebrating human connection over what food eventually reaches you.

To combat with a shortage of care workers, the Japanese government introduced robots like Pepper. But they were not perceived positively and combined with high maintenance costs, production stopped in 2021.

This 19th century satirical print shows a woman using cosmetics and wearing a wig. Visible aging still causes stigma especially for women, but trying to hide it may be ridiculed.

Created in 1983, these are 3 portraits of a Black student going through the British education system which look like school photographs or police mugshots, evoking racial stereotypes.

Exhibition Website