Exhibitions
GLOBAL ASIAS: CONTEMPORARY ASIAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN ART
Knoxville Museum of Art / 1050 WORLD'S FAIR PARK DR. January 28, 2022 - April 24, 2022
Kwang-Yun Chun, Dinq Q. Le, Jun Kaneko, Hung Liu, Takashi Murakami, Do Ho Suh, Barbara Takenaga
The Knoxville Museum of Art is pleased to present Global Asias: Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation January 28-April 24. Global Asias examines the cosmopolitan, playful, and subtly subversive characteristics of contemporary Asian and Asian American art. The exhibition highlights the work of sixteen artists of Asian heritage who draw on a rich array of motifs, techniques, and cultural motivations to construct diverse “Asias” in a modern global context. Artists represented in the exhibition include Kwang-Yun Chun, Dinq Q. Le, Jun Kaneko, Hung Liu, Takashi Murakami, Do Ho Suh, and Barbara Takenaga.
“The artists included in this exhibition open our eyes to what it is like to cross boundaries both real and cultural,” shared Jordan Schnitzer, whose family has a longstanding history of championing Asian art and culture. “I hope each viewer is as moved as I am by this exhibition and is challenged and inspired by the art. The power of this exhibition will influence all of us for years to come.”
What does “Global Asias” mean? Is it a place? An idea? This exhibition moves us away from considering Asia as a geographical location and instead invites us to think broadly about how “Asia” has long served as an imaginative construct. By focusing on the conceptual dimensions of Asia—and in thinking about Asia, not in singular but plural terms—Global Asias encourages us to recognize the power of imagination in constructing Asia as a site of meaning across the globe.
The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections. “Exuberant Forms” features works that reshape and challenge conventional views of abstract art by exploring new materials, techniques, and metaphors. “Moving Stories” encourages viewers to reflect on migration experiences within Asia and beyond. “Asias Reinvented” highlights works that transform styles and motifs of traditional Asian art to engage, probe, and critique contemporary popular culture and politics. Combined, the works in Global Asias suggest the plurality and fluidity of “Asia” as a cultural construct and creative practice.
Image: Hung Liu, American, b. China (1948-2021), Red Flower Rain, 2017, Mixed media on panel, Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer.
