Suzuki Gorō (b. 1941), Yashichida Oribe teabowl with black iron oxide glaze and abstract designs (detail), 1990s, glazed stoneware, 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 5 in.

Playing with Tradition: Modern and Contemporary Mino
January 5 — February 27, 2026
39 East 78th St, Ste 401, NYC

To ring in the Year of the Horse, Joan B Mirviss LTD is excited to present Playing with Tradition: Modern and Contemporary Mino.  From the crawling, unctuous white glaze of Shino wares to the whimsical, textile-inspired patterns and dripping green glazes of the wares favored by the warrior tea master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), ceramics from the Mino region have long been characterized by aesthetic variety and experimentation. The exhibition features a selection of Shino, Seto, and Oribe ceramics by past masters of this regional tradition, including Arakawa Toyozō (1894-1985), Kawakita Handeishi (1878-1963), Koie Ryōji (1938-2020), and Katō Yasukage (1964-2012), and living legends like Suzuki Gorō (b. 1941), Wakao Toshisada (b. 1933), and Living National Treasure Suzuki Osamu (Kura) (b. 1934). These consummate works will be complemented by works from younger, emerging artists pushing the boundaries of Mino aesthetics. A celebration of the region’s enduring legacy, this exhibition highlights Mino’s spirit of experimentation and play.

The history of Mino ceramics is inseparable from that of chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. An increasingly popular pastime among warriors and wealthy merchants from the fifteenth century onwards, chanoyu transformed the serving and drinking of tea from a social nicety into an elaborate ritual infused with a religious and philosophical rigor. In many ways, the philosophy of chanoyu was materialized in the form of the utensils that were used and placed on display, which guests enthusiastically documented in the records they kept of each gathering. With the rise of wabicha in the sixteenth century, taste shifted from luxurious Chinese import wares to more humble ceramics of local origin, whose beauty was located precisely in their rusticity and imperfection.

In their hunt for new and engaging objects, tea masters were instrumental in the emergence of Mino as a center of ceramic production. They collaborated with ceramists at local kilns, whose experimentation had given rise to new and innovative glazing formulas, to create the iconic ceramic styles that would define the region for centuries to come. Visit us this January for a chance to see the legacy of this ceramic tradition as it lives on today.

To learn more, click here.

(L): Kaz Watabe, Exploding Light, 2023, oil on canvas, 16.1 x 12.5 x 0.7 in (41 x 31.8 x 1.8 cm); (R): Ami Yamashiro, Catalyst, 2013, P.P. Mezzotint, 8 x 6.3 in (20.3 x 16.1 cm), 15.4 x 13.8 x 1.2 in (39 x 35 x 3 cm) Framed

Kaz Watabe: Stray
and
Ami Yamashiro: Pragmatism
January 8 – February 7, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 8, 6–8pm
525 West 26th Street, NYC

Seizan Gallery is delighted to welcome the new year with two concurrent exhibitions: Kaz Watabe: Stray, the artist’s second New York solo show featuring twenty-four new oil paintings, and Ami Yamashiro: Pragmatism, Yamashiro’s debut solo exhibition in the United States, presented in the gallery’s project space.

Following his last solo exhibition in 2022, Watabe continues to depict imaginary figures drifting through dreamlike landscapes. Meticulously painted in muted tones, each canvas unfolds like a scene lifted from a fantasy film or role-playing game, populated by whimsical characters and anthropomorphic animals. The works are at once strange and yet intimately familiar, offering a quiet sense of comfort to the viewer.

Yamashiro works primarily in mezzotint, a traditional printmaking process. While studying oil painting in art school, she recalls being “afraid of the white canvas” and would begin each work by painting the entire surface black. This intuitive impulse eventually led her to mezzotint, a process that follows the same progression—beginning in darkness and gradually revealing light. The medium’s rich blacks, velvety textures, and subtle tonal gradations are especially suited to her Kafkaesque narratives, which often center on young girls who confront the viewer with a quiet intensity, inviting psychological engagement and narrative interpretation.

Mark your calendars – Seizan Gallery looks forward to welcoming you to their opening reception soon!

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, Imperial Treasures: Chinese Ceramics of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection

Time is running out to see the incredible exhibitions currently on view at Asia Society. All shows close on January 4, 2026, so this is your last chance to experience Imperial Treasures: Chinese Ceramics of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, (Re)Generations: Rina Banerjee, Byron Kim, and Howardena Pindell amid the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, Busy, Busy Towns: Moving Images of a Changing Asia and Hiraki Sawa: Journeys in Place. From breathtaking historical masterpieces to bold contemporary works, these exhibitions offer a one-of-a-kind experience. Plan your visit now and make sure you don’t miss out!

Imperial Treasures: Chinese Ceramics of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Closing Sunday, January 4, 2026

Known for exquisite porcelain production and expansive trade, the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) represents a period of Chinese imperial rule between the fall of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and the rise of the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The approximately 20 works selected for this exhibition demonstrate how early Ming ceramics inherited the rich and culturally diverse legacy of the Mongol rulers by adopting foreign influences through vibrant trade with the Islamic and Central Asian worlds and combining them with indigenous Chinese traditions.

Howardena Pindell, Autobiography: India (Lakshmi), 1984, mixed media collage on paper. 18 x 20 1/2 x 2 in. (45.7 x 52.1 x 5.1 cm); Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York

(Re)Generations: Rina Banerjee, Byron Kim, and Howardena Pindell amid the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Closing Sunday, January 4, 2026

This exhibition reintroduces key works in Asia Society Museum’s Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of pre-modern Asian art through the lenses of three leading contemporary artists: Rina Banerjee, Byron Kim, and Howardena Pindell. Each artist has selected a number of works in the collection within which to situate their own new and existing works, approaching historic objects in the collection through their practices and from multiple cultures, heritages, and positions. Creating dialogues across multiple histories and places, these artists offer a range of new insights and entry points into the collection.

Tromarama (collective est. 2006, Bandung, Indonesia: Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, Ruddy Hatumena). Unbelievable Beliefs, 2012. Indonesia. Single-channel stop-motion animation with sound; sound by Bintang Manira. Duration: 2 minutes, 57 seconds. Asia Society, New York: Gift of James Woods, 2014.8

Busy, Busy Towns: Moving Images of a Changing Asia
Closing Sunday, January 4, 2026

This selection of works from the Asia Society Museum Collection explore how rapidly evolving cultural, political, and ecological issues have shaped urban landscapes across contemporary Asia, and in particular China, Indonesia, and Taiwan. The exhibition presents seven works featuring the artists Song Dong, Chen Shaoxiong, Tromarama, and Chen Chieh-jen. The innovative range of styles implemented to produce these moving images—through stop-motion animation of woodcuts, ink painting, or embroidery—among other methods, speaks to the creative depth and diversity of the region. The artists explore the dynamic energy of cities, whether fueled by consumerism and gentrification or by collapsing industries and environmental degradation. Actively reflecting on the regeneration of cityscapes and the subsequent impact on urban lives, these works initiate a renewed dialogue with the current exhibition, (Re)Generations: Rina Bannerjee, Bryon Kim, and Howardena Pindell amid the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection.

Hiraki Sawa. trail, detail, 2005. Single-channel video with animation and sound. Duration: 14 minutes. Asia Society, New York: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold and Ruth Newman, 2011.18

Hiraki Sawa: Journeys in Place
Closing Sunday, January 4, 2026

Japanese-born and London-based Hiraki Sawa creates video works that explore psychological landscapes, unexpected worlds, and the playful interweaving of domestic and imaginary spaces. His works traverse specific, often personal, landscapes to consider memory, migration, and displacement. Asia Society invited Sawa to frame his video trail (2005), held in the museum’s collection, with a selection of works from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, echoing the approach of the exhibition (Re)Generations in the museum’s 2nd- and 3rd-floor galleries. His selection of a small-scale pair of lion-dogs (flanking the video monitor) and bixies (mythical creatures) relate to the miniaturized camel who is the main protagonist of trail. Asia Society’s beloved elephant-headed sandstone Ganesha completes the display, bringing joy, good luck, and wealth to the many who venerate the popular deity.

Sawa’s trail is looped with his works fantasmagoria (2017) and pilgrim (2022), while the artist-made monitor box on view loops dwelling (2002) and elsewhere (2003). All five videos present abstracted montages of spaces that are intimate to the artist.

To learn more about all these exhibits, click here.

Installation view, Kobako: The Art of Enclosure

Kobako: The Art of Enclosure
Closing Saturday, January 3, 2026
1601 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM

This is the final week to experience Kobako: The Art of Enclosure at TAI Modern, featuring artist Jacqui Ghosin’s sculptural boxes presented alongside Japanese bamboo works.

Ghosin explains, “From there, I became intrigued with creating a ‘box’ that might not house anything inside but would, instead, yield surprising relationships. Either something unexpected would be revealed upon opening the piece, or the construction itself would be intriguing, or the inclusion of seemingly incongruous materials that were, upon reflection, quite harmonious.”

That delicate balance between contrast and cohesion is echoed in works by TAI Modern artists such as Kawano Shoko (b. 1957) and Sugiura Noriyoshi (b. 1964). Inspired by the exhibition’s theme of enclosure, the gallery spotlights more traditional basket forms in this curatorial vignette. As Kawano reflects, “What can I add to something that is already beautiful? I can express myself through this medium and continue asking the same questions, as long as someone tells me that they see beauty in my work.”

Don’t miss this special presentation, where Ghosin’s intricate, Japanese-inspired creations are thoughtfully paired with the gallery’s collection of traditional basket forms.

To learn more and view their online catalogue, click here.

Installation view, Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries at Japan Society

This holiday season, take a break to explore the captivating exhibitions on view at our member museums across New York City and the surrounding region. With several remarkable presentations closing soon, there’s so much to discover—and plenty you won’t want to miss. Below, we’ve highlighted select exhibitions to help you plan your visit!

New York City:

Platter, Yuan period, mid-14th century, China, Jiangxi Province, porcelain painted with underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware), h. 3 in. x diam. 18 3/8 in. (7.6 x 46.7 cm); Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.151.

Asia Society
Imperial Treasures: Chinese Ceramics of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Closing Sunday, January 4, 2026

Known for exquisite porcelain production and expansive trade, the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) represents a period of Chinese imperial rule between the fall of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and the rise of the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The approximately 20 works selected for this exhibition demonstrate how early Ming ceramics inherited the rich and culturally diverse legacy of the Mongol rulers by adopting foreign influences through vibrant trade with the Islamic and Central Asian worlds and combining them with indigenous Chinese traditions.

To learn more, click here.

Sun Xun 孙逊, detail of The Time Vivarium – Silk Book 2, 2014, ink and acrylic on silk, open: H. 17 1/8 x W. 297 5/8 x D. 1.4 in., closed: H. 17 1/8 x W. 12 3/8 x D. 2 1/8 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Stanley Love and Sylvia Mitchell, by exchange, Robert A. Levinson Fund, Emily Winthrop Miles Fund, Alfred T. White Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund, 2015.46; Courtesy China Institute Gallery

China Institute Gallery
Metamorphosis: Chinese Imagination and Transformation
Closing Sunday, January 11, 2026

Metamorphosis highlights works by over 25 contemporary artists of Chinese descent who explore themes of personal, cultural, historical and material metamorphosis and transformation in dynamic and innovative ways. Created by both established and emerging artists of different generations, these works span media including painting, sculpture, photography, animation, and installation. Artists include Xu Bing, Zheng Chongbin, Lu Yang, Yun-Fei Ji, Irene Chou, Zheng Lu, Yin Xiuzhen and Fiona Lai Ching Wong. Many of these works will be seen in the U.S. for the first time. Important works commissioned especially for the exhibition include new paintings by Sun Xun and an immersive Dream Chamber by Bingyi.

To learn more, click here.

Two Figures of Ladies on Stands, Chinese, Qing Dynasty (1644−1911), Kangxi Period (1662−1722), hard-paste porcelain with polychrome overglaze, 38 × 10 1/4 × 10 1/4 in. (96.5 × 26 × 26 cm); Courtesy The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection
Permanent Collection

Valued for their craftsmanship and harmony with the European masterworks, the Frick’s Asian Art holdings focus primarily on Chinese decorative arts, including blue-and-white and famille verte porcelain, Qing dynasty porcelain and jades, lacquerware, and bronze vessels. Select Japanese and Indian works, such as lacquer, metalwork, and miniatures, further reflect Frick’s interest in global artistry and contribute to the museum’s distinctive blend of cultures, materials, and historical periods. Among the highlights of the Frick’s Asian holdings is a pair of porcelain figures of elegant ladies, created during a particularly innovative period in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when overglaze enamel techniques—known as famille verte for their dominant green tones—were developed.

To learn more and plan your visit, click here.

Japan Society
Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries
Closing Sunday, January 11, 2026

Japan Society Gallery presents the first New York solo museum exhibition of contemporary artist Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972). Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries centers on a newly commissioned, site-specific installation that explores wartime experiences and memories. Placing the original installation in dialogue with other works from Shiota’s oeuvre, the exhibition creates parallels between the humanitarian tragedy of war and the artist’s personal struggles, including confronting her mortality and her bicultural identity living between two home countries. By drawing connections between collective and personal experience and memory, the exhibition contemplates universal issues such as history, humanity, loss, time, space, the body, and national identity.

To learn more, click here.

Seated Ganesha (detail), India, Odisha, 16th century. Ivory, H. 7 1 in. (18.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Klejman, 1964 (64.102)]; Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ganesha: Lord of New Beginnings
Closing Sunday, January 4, 2026

Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is a Brahmanical (Hindu) diety known to clear a path to the gods and remove obstacles in everyday life. He is loved by his devotees (bhakti) for his many traits, including his insatiable appetite for sweet cakes and his role as a dispenser of magic, surprise, and laughter. However, Ganesha is also the lord of ganas (nature deities) and can take on a fearsome aspect in this guise. The seventh- to twenty-first-century works in this exhibition trace his depiction across the Indian subcontinent, the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia. Featuring 24 works across sculptures, paintings, musical instruments, ritual implements, and photography, the exhibition emphasizes the vitality and exuberance of Ganesha as the bringer of new beginnings.

To learn more, click here.  

Installation view, About a Living Culture at Diversity Plaza, Jackson Heights, NYC; Courtesy The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art
About a Living Culture
Closing Thursday, January 1, 2026 

Nepalese artist IMAGINE (a.k.a Sneha Shrestha) presents a new temporary public art installation that celebrates and takes inspiration from the diverse Himalayan cultures of the Jackson Heights, Queens, neighborhood. For her first public art sculpture, IMAGINE is creating an installation in the shape of an arch made of repeating rows of ‘Ka,’ the first letter of the Nepali alphabet. In Nepal, religious and sacred environments feature variations in the form of archways, which encourage passersby to look through and get blessings from the divine. IMAGINE’s sculpture invites the public to interact and experience a meditation and “send” it out to the universe as they embark upon their pathways through Diversity Plaza.

To learn more, click here.  

Surrounding Area:

Installation view, Through the Light: Contemporary Jogakbo by Wonju Seo at The Charles B. Wang Center

The Charles B. Wang Center
Through the Light: Contemporary Jogakbo by Wonju Seo
Closing January 31, 2026

Melding tradition with innovation, Through the Light showcases the contemporary jogakbo (Korean wrapping cloth) art of Wonju Seo. Rooted in centuries-old Korean textile practices, Seo’s translucent compositions transform humble fabric into luminous abstractions. Her works echo the geometry of modernist paintings while inviting viewers to experience light as a living element—passing through seams, shifting with space, and casting ephemeral shadows.

To learn more, click here.

Sekiya Shirō (1907–1994), Vessel, Shōwa era, ca. 1977, hammered silver with bronze neck in hagiawase (joined metals) technique.Bequest of Shirley Z. Johnson. S2022.8.56a–c; Courtesy The National Museum of Asian Art 

The National Museum of Asian Art
Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork
Closing Sunday, January 11, 2026

Contemporary Japanese metalworking breathes life into traditional methods that have been passed down and practiced over generations. The artists featured in Striking Objects create masterpieces that combine tradition with creativity and innovation.  The exhibition highlights works from the collection of Shirley Z. Johnson (1940–2021), distinguished lawyer, philanthropist, and former board member of the National Museum of Asian Art. Her passion for contemporary Japanese metalwork and her visionary gift have made the National Museum of Asian Art home to the largest collection of such works in the United States.

To learn more, click here.

Kurmavatara (Vishnu’s Incarnation as a Tortoise), c. 1760-1765, Artist/maker unknown, Indian, 1984-139-1; Courtesy Philadelphia Art Museum

Philadelphia Art Museum
Mythical, Divine, Demonic: Animal Imagery in South Asian Art
Through February 9, 2026

Mythical, Divine, Demonic: Animal Imagery in South Asian Art explores how single animals are interpreted in myriad ways across various regions and cultures. Different representations show how animals serve an array of artistic and symbolic functions. Works in the exhibition are clustered into four groups that broadly focus on the lion, the serpent, the man-eagle, and composite beings who are a mixture of animals or part human and part animal. Through examining these objects, audiences will gain a deeper understanding of how animals play a complex role in world cultures.

To learn more, click here.

Installation view of Yoshida Chizuko

Step out of the cold and into the Portland Art Museum this holiday season to explore their vibrant exhibitions. Following the debut of its beautifully renovated 100,000-square-foot campus last month, the museum presents a compelling selection of newly opened displays—including Word in Flower: Arts of Buddhism and Heaven and Earth: Chinese Art from the Collections—offering fresh perspectives and richly engaging encounters.

Also be sure to catch the first major museum retrospective devoted to the groundbreaking 20th-century painter and printmaker Yoshida Chizuko (1924–2017), before it closes on January 4.

These highlights are just a few of the exhibitions now on view, learn more below and discover something new this season!

Yoshida Chizuko
Closing Sunday, January 4, 2026

Yoshida Chizuko brings together more than 100 works, many shown publicly for the first time, spanning oil paintings, prints, mixed-media works, and archival material. Tracing her full career, the exhibition follows Chizuko’s evolution from postwar abstraction to op art and later nature-inspired works, situating her within international modernism and 20th-century Japanese printmaking while examining her experience as a pioneering woman artist in mid-century Japan.

To learn more, click here.

Jang Jin-ik (Korean, born 1973), Fulfillment of Emptiness II, 2016, hanji (Korean paper) on copper frame, 65 1/2 in x 43 1/4 in, Gift of Yeon Deung Hoe (Lotus Lantern Festival) Preservation Committee, © Jang Jin-ik, 2017.87.1

Word in Flower: Arts of Buddhism
November 20, 2025 – November 20, 2026

This exhibition highlights the Museum’s small collection of Buddhist art, most of which originates from East Asia, spanning the 6th to 21st centuries. Featuring sculpture, painting, calligraphy, photography, and more, it includes rare sacred works alongside secular pieces and contemporary creations exploring Buddhist themes.

To learn more, click here.

Heaven and Earth: Chinese Art from the Collections
November 20, 2025 – November 20, 2026

Heaven and Earth spotlights powerful works of art in the Museum’s collections, spanning creative practices in China across several millennia. Historic objects and more recent works are brought into conversation, offering different perspectives on how we make meaning of the world and the diversity and creativity of Chinese artists and makers.

To learn more, click here.

Animal Power rotation in Islamic Art Gallery

The Harvard Art Museums are pleased to announce new gallery rotations featuring a series of exhibitions that offer fresh perspectives on the collections now on view. Highlights include Animal Power, which examines a wide range of animal representations and their symbolic meanings and cultural significance; Blank Space, an installation exploring the varied uses of negative space in East Asian art; and Dwarpalika (Temple Guardian), a new acquisition by Sneha Shrestha that reimagines traditional architectural forms through a contemporary street art lens. Together, these exhibitions offer distinct ways of engaging with art across cultures, histories, and ideas.

The glow-in-the-dark glaze of Nighty Night I by Danyang Song (b. 1998)

This rotation presents newly installed works alongside select returning favorites, reflecting the museums’ ongoing commitment to scholarship, teaching, and the continual re-examination of the collections. They welcome visitors to explore these exhibitions and experience the galleries in renewed and thought-provoking ways this winter.

To learn more, click here.

Natori Shunsen (1886-1960), Creative Prints, Collected Portraits of Shunsen: Actor Ichikawa Sumizo VI as Shirai Gonpachi (Sosaku hanga Shunsen Nigao-e Shu: Rokusei Ichikawa Sumizo, Shirai Gonpachi), dai oban tate-e 15 1/2 by 10 5/8 in., 39.5 by 27 cm

A Private Collection of Shin-Hanga Kabuki Portraits
December 2025 – Early 2026
Online Exhibition

Scholten Japanese Art is delighted to present a special Online Exhibition of 20th century actor prints from a private collection. Carefully and patiently assembled over decades, the collection includes the finest shin-hanga portraits of kabuki actors produced by leading artists of the period. The selection offered here represents approximately half of the collection, focusing on early works by Yamamura Koka (Toyonari), Natori Shunsen, and Shin’ei. A second grouping will be offered later in the New Year.

To learn more and view these remarkable prints, click here.

Clockwise from top left: Courtesy Fu Qiumeng Fine Art, Courtesy Joan B Mirviss LTD; Courtesy Seizan Gallery; Courtesy Alisan Fine Arts; Courtesy Dai Ich Arts. Ltd.

This holiday season, step away from the rush and enter a world of quiet beauty through extraordinary Asian art at our member galleries. From contemplative traditions to bold artistic expressions, these exhibitions offer moments of beauty, insight, and quiet discovery amid the year’s bustle.

With exhibitions at Alisan Fine Arts, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd., Fu Qiumeng Fine Art, Joan B Mirviss LTD, and Seizan Gallery closing soon, now is the moment to experience these remarkable works. Take a peaceful break with art, savor the season, and be sure to catch these exceptional exhibitions before they close!