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Final Curtain Call on Drama Queens & Kabuki Kings at Scholten Japanese Art

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Shunkosai Hokushu (active ca. 1802-1832), (from L-R): A Competition Among Modern Fans: Actor Nakamura Utaemon III as Danshichi Kurobei (Uchiwa tosei kurabe: Danshichi Kurobei, Nakamura Utaemon); A Competition Among Modern Fans: Actor Ichikawa Ebijuro I as Issun Tokubei (Uchiwa tosei kurabe: Issun Tokubei, Ichikawa Ebijuro); Hits of a Lifetime: Actor Nakamura Utaemon III as Kumagai Jiro Naozane (Issei ichidai atari kyogen: Kumagai Jiro Naozane, Nakamura Utaemon); A Competition Among Modern Fans: Right, Actor Nakamura Utaemon III as Abe no Yasuna (Uchiwa tosei kurabe: Migi ichi, Abe no Yasuna, Nakamura Utaemon)

Drama Queens & Kabuki Kings: Stars of Edo and Osaka
Closing Friday, October 31, 2025
145 West 58th Street, Suite 6D (by appointment)

Don’t miss your chance to see Drama Queens & Kabuki Kings: Stars of Edo and Osaka before it closes on October 31 at Scholten Japanese Art! This captivating exhibition features approximately fifty 19th-century woodblock prints and drawings that celebrate the stars and superstars of the kabuki world. These dynamic portraits—originally created as advertisements or visually rich mementos for theatergoers—capture the charisma and artistry of Japan’s legendary performers.

A special highlight is this group of fan-shaped bust portraits which were produced in the early to mid-1820s, some utilizing embellishments including embossing, metallic printing and mica. Three of the prints illustrate the Osaka-based actor Nakamura Utaemon III (popularly known as Shikan, 1778-1838) at what was thought to be the pinnacle of his career just before his anticipated retirement in 1825. In a change of plans many of us can relate to, Utaemon actually never officially retired, and he continued to perform for the remainder of his life. The fourth fan-shaped portrait (second from the left above) is of Ichikawa Ebijuro I (1777-1837), a friend and close ally of Utaemon who worked for a time as a disciple of the Edo-based kabuki super (duper) star, Ichikawa Danjuro VII (1791-1859). These commemorative fan portraits celebrating their accomplishments exemplify the synergy inspired by Osaka kabuki fan-atics who very often were the artists and publishers themselves.

These kabuki luminaries inspired devoted fan clubs whose members passionately championed their favorite actors—often fanning the flames of the friendly rivalries that animated the kabuki stage.

Schedule your visit today and experience these fascinating works before they’re gone!

To learn more, click here.

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Welcoming Tina Kim Gallery Back to Asia Week New York

Installation view of Lee Seung Jio: Nucleus in Resonance at Tina Kim Gallery (September 18 – November 8, 2025). Courtesy Tina Kim Gallery. Photo: Hyunjung Rhee.

Asia Week New York is delighted to welcome back Tina Kim Gallery as one of our esteemed members! Widely recognized for its distinctive programming that emphasizes international contemporary artists, historical overviews, and independent curatorial projects, Tina Kim Gallery was founded in 2001 and played a pivotal role in introducing Korean Dansaekhwa artists such as Park Seo-Bo, Ha Chong-Hyun, and Kim Tschang-Yeul to a global audience, establishing public and institutional awareness of this critically influential group of Asian Post-War artists. The gallery continues to support both emerging and established artists, working closely with over twenty artists and Estates. Its expanding program of Asian-American and Asian diasporic artists—including Maia Ruth Lee, Minoru Niizuma, and Wook-Kyung Choi—reflects Tina Kim Gallery’s commitment to pushing the conversation beyond national frameworks.

Their current exhibition, Lee Seung Jio: Nucleus in Resonance, is a striking example. This solo presentation surveys Lee’s defining Nucleus series, which he explored consistently from the late 1960s through his final decade. Be sure to also catch Tina Kim Gallery at Art Basel Paris from October 24–26, featuring a booth dedicated to Seoul-based artist Lee ShinJa, highlighting the extraordinary evolution of her career from the late 1950s through the 2000s!

Lee Seung Jio: Nucleus in Resonance
September 18 – November 8, 2025
525 West 21st Street, NYC

Currently on view through November 8, 2025, Lee Seung Jio: Nucleus in Resonance is the gallery’s second solo exhibition dedicated to painter Lee Seung Jio (1941–1990). A leading figure in postwar Korean geometric abstraction, Lee developed his iconic Nucleus series from the late 1960s until his passing in 1990. Defined by his signature cylindrical “pipe” forms, Lee’s paintings construct a rigorous visual language that strips the motif of symbolic meaning and probes the illusions of perception itself. The exhibition follows the evolution of the Nucleus series—from early works of the 1960s to the meditative black paintings of the late 1970s and the monumental canvases of the 1980s—revealing the depth of his lifelong exploration and vision.

To learn more and view the works, click here.

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Lee ShinJa (b. 1930), Work I, 1959, cotton, linen, and wool thread on cotton cloth; coiling, free technique, 30 x 29 in (76.2 x 73.7 cm); Courtesy of the artist, MMCA Korea, and Tina Kim Gallery. Photo by Unreal Studio.

Art Basel Paris 2025
VIP Days: October 22–23, 2025
Public Days: October 24–26, 2025
Booth 1.J2
Grand Palais, Paris

For the Premise sector of Art Basel Paris, they are pleased to present a solo booth dedicated to Lee ShinJa, tracing the extraordinary evolution of the Seoul-based artist’s career from the late 1950s to the 2000s. A pioneering first-generation Korean fiber artist and educator, Lee broke from convention by moving beyond traditional embroidery to embrace geometric abstraction and innovations in color, composition, and dimensionality. On view will be a selection of works spanning more than five decades of Lee’s practice, from early post-war experimentations through to her late-career tapestries. Together, the works highlight the artist’s mastery of material, form, and color, charting new directions for fiber art with each stage of her creative development.

To learn more and view the online viewing room, click here.

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Explore The Art of Japan’s Newest Acquisitions

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Hiroshige (1797 – 1858), Fukagawa Susaki and Jumantsubo, 1857, woodblock print, 14.12 x 9.62 in (35.86 x 24.43 cm)

New Acquisitions
Autumn 2025

The Art of Japan is excited to unveil its new fall acquisitions—50 exceptional works now available for sale! Highlights include two iconic designs from Hiroshige’s late masterpiece series 100 Views of Edo; a rare first-edition Kuniyoshi aizuri-e triptych; exquisite 18th-century prints of beauties; a stunning group of Osaka prints rendered with metallic pigments in the surimono style; and a vibrant selection from the 1930 series 100 Views of New Tokyo by various artists.

Don’t miss this chance to explore these remarkable additions today!

To view them all, click here.

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Collapse / Rebirth II Closing Soon at Joan B Mirviss LTD

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Installation view, Collapse / Rebirth II

Collapse / Rebirth II
Closing Friday, October 24, 2025
39 East 78th Street, Ste 401, NYC

Don’t miss the final days of this captivating exhibition at Joan B Mirviss LTD, closing October 24. Featuring the second conjoint solo exhibition by renowned ceramists Fujino Sachiko (b. 1950) and Futamura Yoshimi (b. 1959), the show presents two distinct yet complementary approaches to clay—Fujino’s delicately ruffled, textile-inspired forms and Futamura’s textured, striated biomorphic sculptures.

Nearly a decade after their first joint presentation, Collapse / Rebirth II offers a rare opportunity to experience the evolving mastery and expressive innovation of these two exceptional artists.

To learn more, click here.

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Discover Dynamic Exhibitions at Alisan Fine Arts

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Fong Chung-Ray, 2014-16 (detail), 2014, mixed media on canvas, 53 ¾ x 35 ½ in.

Alisan Fine Arts is honored to announce its exclusive representation of Fong Chung-Ray (b. 1934), a seminal figure in Chinese abstraction and a founding member of the Fifth Moon Group. This milestone marks a new chapter in the gallery’s long-standing commitment to advancing cross-cultural dialogues in modern and contemporary art. Opening October 29, Fong Chung-Ray: Meditations in Abstraction will be the artist’s first New York exhibition, a six-decade survey celebrating his distinctive synthesis of Western modernism and Asian aesthetics. Join them for the opening reception on October 29, and be sure to catch the final days of Ming Fay: Botanical Curiosities and Pixy Liao and Ren Light Pan: Portraits, closing Saturday, October 25, two remarkable exhibitions not to be missed!

Fong Chung-Ray: Meditations in Abstraction
October 29 – December 20, 2025
Opening Reception: Wednesday, October 29, 6-8pm
120 East 65th Street, NYC

On October 29th, Fong Chung-Ray 馮鍾睿 (b. 1934), the eminent Chinese American artist who immigrated to Taiwan as a teenager and has been based in San Francisco since 1975, will make his New York debut. Fong’s practice bridges Eastern philosophy and Western modernism. Trained in Taiwan and later influenced by Abstract Expressionism during his Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, he developed an experimental approach that merges the gestural energy of American painting with the contemplative sensibility of Chinese calligraphy. His innovations—including the fabrication of a coarse palm-fiber brush in the 1960s, the use of acrylic to emulate ink, and the development of a unique “reverse rubbing” transfer technique produced richly textured, time-worn surfaces reminiscent of weathered walls and ancient manuscripts. Since the 1980s, Fong has incorporated Buddhist sutras into his compositions, transforming sacred text into meditations on form, formlessness, and impermanence.

Born in Henan, China, and based in San Francisco since 1975, Fong has lived through cultural shifts that profoundly shaped his artistic identity. As a member of the influential Fifth Moon Group, a Rockefeller Foundation fellow, and a lifelong Buddhist practitioner, he has continually expanded the language of abstraction while remaining rooted in Eastern heritage.

They look forward to welcoming you soon!

To learn more, click here.

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Installation view, Ming Fay: Botanical Curiosities

Ming Fay: Botanical Curiosities
and
Pixy Liao and Ren Light Pan: Portraits
Closing Saturday, October 25, 2025

Don’t miss the final days to see Ming Fay: Botanical Curiosities and Pixy Liao and Ren Light Pan: Portraits—two remarkable shows closing October 25! Experience Ming Fay’s poetic exploration of nature and mythology, and discover how Liao and Pan turn self-portraiture into a meditation on identity and storytelling.

To learn more, click here.

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Illuminating China’s Contributions to Newport

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Installation view of Yu-Wen Wu’s Lanterns

These contemporary lanterns, created by artist Yu-Wen Wu for The Celestial City: Newport and China exhibition at Rosecliff (2023-24), have found an appropriate new home in the Chinese Tea House at Marble House.

Each lantern has a theme – Entrepreneurship, the Exclusion Act, Arrivals, Trade and Women’s Suffrage – illuminating the contributions of Chinese and Chinese American individuals to Newport and the U.S. more broadly. During the Gilded Age, more than 60 Chinese businesses operated in Newport, while Chinese immigration was banned by federal law in 1882, with race- and nationality-based quotas not eliminated until 1965. Chinese workers made significant contributions to the nation’s prosperity in the 19th century, particularly in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Newport merchants—including the Wetmores of Chateau-sur-Mer and the Kings of Kingscote—profited from trade with China in commodities such as tea, silk, and opium. Chinese American women, such as Mabel Ping-Hua Lee and Grace Yip Typond, played vital roles in the women’s suffrage movement and may have inspired Alva Belmont to build the Tea House, which she opened for a major suffrage conference in 1914.

To learn more about this fascinating exhibition, click here.

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Last Week of Shufa Essentials at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

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Installation view, Shufa Essentials 書之有法

Shufa Essentials 書之有法
Closing Saturday, October 25, 2025
65 East 80th Street, NYC

Don’t miss the final days of Shufa Essentials 書之有法, an exhibition dedicated to the art of Shufa—commonly translated as “Chinese calligraphy” at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art!

Shufa is rooted in a different framework that is shaped by the unique nature of Chinese characters—logographs that are at once visual, phonetic, and ideographic. This foundation allows Shufa to unite language, philosophy, and artistic expression into a single art form. Perhaps the best translation is to embrace Shufa as its own term. In the hands of the artist, characters unfold not only as words but also as pure form, alive with cadence, rhythm, and energy.

For more than two thousand years, artists have used brush, ink, and paper not only as tools of writing but as instruments of expression. Every stroke is a trace of the artist’s presence—a line shaped by rhythm, vitality, and state of mind. With no erasures and no second chances, each mark preserves the immediacy of its making, a visible record of body and spirit joined in a single moment.

This exhibition highlights three principles at the heart of the tradition. The centered use of the brush channels balance and strength into every stroke. Handmade paper, unyielding yet responsive, registers each decision without disguise. And Qi—often described as breath or vital energy—animates the work, infusing it with rhythm, mood, and life.

Through selected works and interpretive guides, Shufa Essentials 書之有法 invites visitors to follow the artist’s hand, sense the flow of ink on paper, and encounter Shufa as one of China’s most profound and enduring artistic traditions—an art that is at once writing and image, continuity and expression, discipline and spirit.

To learn more, click here.

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Onishi Gallery and Thomsen Gallery Participate in Madison Avenue Fall Gallery Walk 2025

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(Left): Kondō Masahiko (b. 1971), Bizen Large Flower Vase, 2023, ceramic, 14 ¾ × 14 ⅞ × 10 ⅝ in (37.5 × 38 × 27 cm), courtesy Onishi Gallery; (Right): Fukami Sueharu, Ki no toki (Resolute Spirit), 2002, porcelain with seihakuji glaze, on a walnut base, height including base 68 in (173 cm), courtesy Thomsen Gallery

Madison Avenue Fall Gallery Walk
Saturday, October 25, 2025

Join Onishi Gallery and Thomsen Gallery for the Madison Avenue Fall Gallery Walk on Saturday, October 25! This free, all-day event invites art lovers to explore a vibrant lineup of exhibitions and expert talks along Madison Avenue and its side streets, spanning East 57th to East 86th Streets. Discover all the exceptional artwork on display and register for their talks today!

Explore the exhibitions and special talks hosted by Onishi and Thomsen Galleries below:

Onishi Gallery
Artist Talk & Reception with an Interior Designer: 3pm 
16 East 79th Street (Madison-Fifth), 10am-6pm

Onishi Gallery invites you to a sneak preview of their upcoming special exhibition Clay, Iron, and Fire: The Bizen and Setouchi Heritage, celebrating the enduring artistry of ceramics from two culturally rich cities in Okayama Prefecture.

Thomsen Gallery
Gallery Talk: 12pm, 2pm and 4pm
8 East 67th Street (Madison-Fifth), 11am-5pm

Thomsen Gallery is delighted to welcome you to their current exhibition Porcelain Sculptures by Fukami Sueharu, featuring 20 works from the 1970s to today, including his signature large vertical and horizontal sculptures. To deepen your experience, join one of the gallery’s talks at 12pm, 2pm, or 4pm where Erik Thomsen will discuss techniques used and developments in Fukami Sueharu’s artwork on the basis of the works on display.

Onishi Gallery and Thomsen Gallery look forward to welcoming you for a vibrant day of art, culture, and inspiration! To register for their talks, click here. To view the Madison Avenue Fall Gallery Walk map, click here.

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Cincinnati Art Museum Joins Asia Week New York

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Zhang Jin 張錦 (Chinese, ca. 1450s–1520s), Daoist Immortal Han Xiangzi, late 15th century, hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, Museum Purchase: Gift of the Duke and Duchess of Talleyrand-Perigord, by exchange, 2011.70

Asia Week New York is thrilled to welcome the Cincinnati Art Museum as its newest cultural institution member! Located in scenic Eden Park, the Cincinnati Art Museum features a diverse, encyclopedic art collection of more than 73,000 works spanning 6,000 years. In addition to displaying its own broad collection, the museum presents several national and international traveling exhibitions each year, along with a vibrant array of art programs, activities, and special events. General admission is always free, thanks to the Rosenthal Family Foundation, with additional benefits available to museum members.

Don’t miss Rediscovered Treasures, a captivating new exhibition highlighting artworks from the museum’s renowned East Asian Art collection—many newly identified through recent research that reveals their hidden histories. Visitors can also explore the museum’s extensive collections of South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities, each offering a rich glimpse into the artistic traditions and histories of diverse cultures. Free exhibition tours are available every Thursday evening!

Rediscovered Treasures
September 19, 2025 – January 18, 2026
Free Exhibition Tours Every Thursdays, 6:30–7:30pm
Evenings for Educators: Rediscovered Treasures, Thursday, January 15, 2026, 4-7pm
The Thomas R. Schiff Gallery (Gallery 234 & 235)

Rediscovered Treasures features nearly 60 artworks selected from the Cincinnati Art Museum’s East Asian Art collection. Each tells a fascinating story of its rediscovery through scholarship or conservation, fulfilling two key goals of the museum’s mission: interpreting and preserving the cultural objects in our care.

The museum acquired the core of its East Asian collection in the late nineteenth century when Cincinnati became a flourishing cultural center in the Midwest. These early acquisitions were often left unidentified, misidentified, or sometimes not accessioned at all due to a lack of information at the time. However, over the past two decades, new research on these works and others in the East Asian collection has led to many exciting discoveries, providing not only new information about the objects themselves, but also their histories and provenances.

Be sure to join all the related programs!

To learn more, click here.

 

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Celestial Maiden Attended by an Ascetic and a Gana. Rajasthan, India, c. 1000–1099. Stone, 23 1/4 × 13 3/4 × 6 1/2 in. (59.1 × 34.9 × 16.5 cm). Cincinnati Art Museum, Museum Purchase with funds provided by Carl and Alice Bimel, 2001.59

South Asian Art, Islamic Art and Antiquities Collections

The Cincinnati Art Museum’s department of South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities is honored to steward distinguished collections that include over five thousand works of art. Tracing a trajectory that begins with neolithic period objects from the ancient Middle East, the collection promotes the arts and cultures of a vast geographic region over centuries. Recently, the collection has expanded to include contemporary works from artists based in greater South Asia and the Middle East, as well as diasporic artists in the US and Europe.

The arts of historic South Asia (often defined as modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) are represented through architectural fragments, decorative arts, and paintings. The arts of the Islamic World (defined as countries where Islam was/is widespread, and here concentrates on the Middle East and Central Asia) includes strengths in ceramics, metalwork, and the calligraphic arts.

At the center of the ancient collections are the architectural fragments from Khirbet et-Tannur. As the most significant collection of Nabataean material outside of Jordan, CAM is committed to the research, conservation, and display of these works for visitors and scholars alike. The ancient Mediterranean collection features notable examples of sculpture and ceramic vessels from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.

The department generates new scholarship through collection-based research, presented to our audiences through exhibitions, publications, and digital projects.

To learn more, click here.

 

East Asian Art Collection

The East Asian Department of Cincinnati Art Museum covers the arts of China, Japan, and Korea. The Museum acquired its first East Asian art works in 1881, making it one of the oldest museum collections of East Asian art in the United States.

The Chinese art collection spans nearly five thousand years, from the Neolithic to the present. Major strengths of the current holdings are ancient ritual bronzes of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Buddhist sculptures from the sixth to the nineteenth centuries, ceramics from the Neolithic period to the Qing dynasties, and paintings from the thirteenth to the twentieth century.

The Japanese art collection of nearly 5,000 works is the largest of the East Asian collection, which includes: ceramics, paintings, prints, metalwork, sculptures, objects in lacquer and ivory, and other forms. The collection is especially rich in the arts of the Edo period. The Korean art collection includes ceramics, metal and lacquer works, paintings, prints, and textiles.

To learn more, click here.

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Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. Presents SILENT EARTH: Contemporary Ceramics by Kato Mami

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Kato Mami, Kishibe, 2025, Seto porcelain, h:32 x w:34 x d:32.5 cm, with signed wood plate

SILENT EARTH
Contemporary Ceramics by Kato Mami
October 23 – November 6, 2025
Opening Reception with Artist: Thursday, October 23, 4-7pm (RSVP required)
Special Weekend Hours: Sunday, October 26, 1-5pm
18 East 64th St, Ste 1F, NYC

Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. is honored to present the first New York solo exhibition of Tokoname-based ceramic artist Kato Mami (b. 1963). Renowned for her innovative glazes, titled “Frost Glaze,” over porcelain vessel forms, Kato’s work invites audiences to contemplate the inner life of vessels, where interior and exterior converge as sites of presence, imagination, and human connection.

Working primarily with porcelain slabs, Kato constructs sculptural vessels that recall glacial terrains, oceanic tides, and distant celestial landscapes. Her meticulous hand-building process—layering, folding, and draping porcelain clay—imbues each work with a delicate balance between fragility and strength.

The exhibition includes a selection of Kato’s celebrated chawan (tea bowls), the forms for which she became the first woman in history to win the Shoroku Chawan Competition in 2015, and the Koie Ryoji prize in the Chouzou Tougei Exhibition, These intimate works translate vast imagined landscapes into vessels that rest in the palm of the hand, their interiors embodying what Kato describes as a “soul-like presence.”

Kato’s achievements have been recognized across Japan, with the Grand Prize at the Mino Ceramics Exhibition (2019) and the Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition (2021) among her honors. Beyond accolades, her practice is deeply rooted in an exploration of time, memory, and universality. “I seek forms that transcend time,” she reflects, “silent presences that radiate a sense of universal beauty.”

This milestone exhibition for the artist offers New York audiences the rare opportunity to meet the artist and experience the depth of Kato’s vision through a curated collection of her latest work: vessels as sanctuaries of acceptance, imagination, and connection.

The artist will be in the gallery to meet guests, collectors, and fans of her work on the following days:

  • Thursday, October 23, 2025 | 4-7pm
  • Sunday, October 26, 2025 | 1-4pm
  • Tuesday, October 28, 2025 | 2-4pm
  • Wednesday, October 29, 2025 | 2-4pm

There is no need to make an appointment to visit us on these dates: simply drop in and say hello!

Kato Mami is also teaching a Slab Building Workshop at Peters Valley School of Craft in New Jersey from October 31–November 2, 2025. There are a very limited number spots remaining! This is a rare opportunity to learn from a highly skilled artist from Japan. Visit Peters Valley School of Craft’s website here for full details and registration.

To learn more and view the online catalog, click here.

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