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Asian/American/Modern Art:
Shifting Currents, 1900-1970
October 25, 2008January 18,
2009
Asian/American/Modern
Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970, on view October
25, 2008, to January 18, 2009, at the de Young Museum is the first 
comprehensive survey of Asian American modernism. This
exhibition of works by artists of Asian ancestry who lived and worked in
the United States seeks to showcase some of the most important individuals
contributing to the canon of Asian American art and advance awareness of
this under-represented group in American art history. Their art reflects
the currents of identity and style that shift between aesthetics of diverse
international geographies. Exhibition curator Mark Johnson says, "This
body of work is rich in variety and demonstrates the wealth of Asian American
art using masterpieces spanning 70 years as examples." (right:
Chao-chen Yang (b. 1909, Hangzhou, China - d. 1969, Bellevue, Washington)
Apprehension; ca. 1951. Color photograph, 10 x 8 inches. Courtesy
of Jean and Edgar Yang)
Nearly 100 works by over 70 artists of Japanese, Chinese,
Filipino, and Korean ancestry, many of whom had their work exhibited at
the de Young Museum or Legion of Honor in earlier decades, are included.
Asian/American/Modern explores the wide range of influences across
cultural boundaries on artists such as Ruth Asawa, Chang Dai-chien, Yun
Gee, Dong Kingman, Isamu Noguchi, Chiura Obata, Yoko Ono, Alfonso Ossorio,
Nam June Paik, and Tseng Yuho. Included in the exhibition:
- Toshio Aoki's Untitled (Thunder Kami), ca. 1900
-- the earliest piece in the exhibition is a work on paper featuring a
sacred Shinto spirit; the piece demonstrates the passion for Japanese art
and design in America at the turn of the 20th century.
-
- Nam June Paik's TV Clock, 1963 -- one of Paik's
groundbreaking works, it is among the earliest works of conceptual art
to incorporate televisions as sculpture, and explore the relationship of
video and time.
-
- Tseng Yuho's mural Western Frontier, 1964 -- ikely
the largest public artwork ever created by a female Chinese artist before
1970; commissioned by Golden West Financial, now Wachovia Bank, featuring
paper collage on a mural scale.
-
- Carlos Villa's Painted Cloak, 197071 -- the
most recent work in the exhibition is a painted canvas with taffeta lining
and feathers; this mixed media object points to the artist's search for
a cultural identity as a Filipino American.
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
has played an unparalleled role in the development of Asian American artists'
careers and art history. Beginning in the 1920s and continuing in every
subsequent decade, the de Young has hosted many exhibitions of artists of
Asian ancestry. Tseng Yuho had solo exhibitions in 1947 and 1952, and in
1960 there were solo exhibitions for Ruth Asawa and Gary Woo. Chee Chin
S. Cheung Lee's 1933 painting Mountain Fantasy, featured in the 1935
group exhibition of the Chinese Art Association at the de Young, makes a
repeat appearance in Asian/American/Modern. John Buchanan, director
of FAMSF says, "Our roster of Asian American exhibitions is arguably
the most significant of any major American museum. Our commitment is not
only critical to the institution's self conception, but also relevant to
the understanding of what constitutes a more holistic vision of American
culture." (left: Yun Gee (b. 1906, Kaiping, Guangdong, China
- d. 1963, New York, NY) Where is My Mother; 1926-1927. Oil on canvas.
20 1/8 x 16 inches. Estate of Yun Gee, Courtesy of Li-Ian)
A full-color catalog co-published with the University of
California Press accompanies this exhibition. In addition, the Fine Arts
Museums invited prominent members of the local Asian American art community
to collaborate on related programming as well as strengthen awareness of
the rich offerings by institutions that regularly present exhibitions of
Asian American art in the Bay Area. The result of this cultural partnership
is a community-wide program calendar for fall/winter 2008, produced by FAMSF.
Organization
This exhibition is organized by the Fine Arts Museums of
San Francisco and the Asian American Art Project at Stanford University
in collaboration with San Francisco State University. Exhibition co-curators
are Daniell Cornell, former curator of American art at FAMSF and current
deputy director of the Palm Springs Museum of Art, and Mark Johnson, professor
of art at San Francisco State University.
(above: Dong Kingman (b. 1911, Oakland, CA - d. 2000, New York, NY)
South Street Bridge; 1955. Watercolor on paper. 21 1/2 x 29 3/4 inchces.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, George A. Hearn Fund, 1955.)
(above: Yasuo Kuniyoshi (b. 1889, Okayama, Japan - d. 1953,
New York, NY) Self Portrait as a Photographer; 1924. Oil on canvas.
51.8 x 76.8 cm. Lent by Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Scofield
Thayer, 1982)
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