Asia Society announces the appointment of Yasufumi Nakamori, an experienced museum leader, curator, and noted scholar of modern and contemporary Asian art from cross-disciplinary and transnational perspectives, as its new Museum Director and Vice President of Arts and Culture. He will be responsible for overseeing the museum’s exhibition program and collection, as well as arts and culture programming across the global organization. He joins Asia Society in August.

Nakamori comes to Asia Society from Tate, where, since 2018, he has served as the Senior Curator, International Art (Photography), leading the development of Tate’s collection of photography as well as the strategy for representing photography in the program at Tate Modern; developing and curating exhibitions, including Zanele Muholi (2020-21), and collection displays. He has also advised on numerous initiatives on Asian and Asian diaspora art in programming, and provided strategic management for photography and modern art in the programming at Tate Britain.

“I’m extremely excited about leading the next chapter of the Asia Society Museum and the global organization’s arts and culture program,” said Yasufumi. “I would like the museum to become the engine for expanding the scholarly and curatorial field of Asian and Asian diaspora art by looking at Asia’s relationship with the world throughout history.”

Read more at https://asiasociety.org/new-york.

Carolyn Swiszcz, Backyard (Clothesline), 2023, watercolor, monoprint, and colored pencil on paper, 22 x 30 in / 55.9 x 76.2 cm; Courtesy: MIYAKO YOSHINAGA, New York

Carolyn Swiszcz: Burgers & Bonsai at MIYAKO YOSHINAGA Closes June 30

The exhibition is composed of whimsical landscapes by Minnesota-based American artist Carolyn Swiszcz (b. 1972) based on her everyday observation of her surroundings and showcases a dozen of her small to large works on paper.

Carolyn Swiszcz is renowned for her uncanny, yet affectionate landscapes and building exteriors, employing a wide range of printmaking techniques, vibrant colors, and distinctive patterns. Swiszcz derives inspiration from quirky features of buildings, parks, signs and banners, window displays, and distinctive trees.

Read more about the exhibition.

Peng Kanglong, 彭康隆, Voiceless Landscape, 山水清音, 2022, Ink and color on paper, 147 x 243 cm, 57 7/8 x 95 5/8 in Copyright The Artist

Global INK
INKstudio's Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition
June 17, 2023-July 29, 2023

Red no 1 B-1, Caochangdi
Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

INKstudio was founded ten years ago by three Stanford University alumni—business school classmates Craig Yee and Chris Reynolds and art historian and curator Dr. Britta Erickson—based on the simple observation that the world of global contemporary art was missing one of the greatest contributions any civilization has made to human culture: INK art. Central to their view is that INK is much more than a Medium; it is, in fact, a rich and complex artistic Language that expresses a similarly rich and distinctive Worldview—specifically, the civilizational worldview of China and East Asia.

Liu Dan, 刘丹,UNTITLED, 无题,2014, Ink on paper, 163 x 387 cm, Copyright The Artist

Since its founding, INKstudio has been focused on researching, documenting and exhibiting the individual practices of the most important artists of this post-Cultural Revolution period. They see each artist as an individual with his or her own unique and distinctive approach to deconstructing, reconstructing and transmitting the language of INK and the worldview it expresses. Each such artistic practice is thus a manifesto—a statement in action—about what INK art is at its most essential core. As a result, INKstudio, over the past ten years, has focused on producing solo exhibitions for these distinctly individual artists.

Zheng Chongbin, 郑重宾, Abrasive Surface, 磨擦的表象, 2018, Ink and acrylic on xuan paper, 79 x 72 in, 200.7 x 182.9 cm

The current exhibition, Global INK, is their opportunity to share with everyone what they have discovered over their first decade of programming. It is not a group show but instead a special exhibition consisting of twelve separate solo presentations by twelve artists who they believe define the new global contemporary INK. The featured artists are: Bingyi, Chen Haiyan, Huang Chih-yang, Li Jin, Li Huasheng, Liu Dan, Peng Kanglong, Wang Dongling, Wang Tiande, Xu Bing, Yang Jiechang and Zheng Chongbin.

For more information click here.

Kyohei Inukai, TARGET 1, undated (detail). © Kyohei Inukai. Courtesy of Inukai Estate

Japan Society Gallery
Kyohei Inukai
March 17–June 25, 2023

Kyohei Inukai is the first institutional solo exhibition of Kyohei Inukai (1913–1985), a largely unknown, yet prolific Japanese-American artist. Presenting key bodies of work—many of which have never been shown before—this exhibition highlights Inukai’s paintings and screenprints of illusionary, abstract lines and shapes that defined his artistic style during the latter years of his career, from the 1960s through the 80s. These works are juxtaposed with a series of sumi-e, or Japanese ink paintings, that dovetail Inukai’s distinctive curvilinear forms and nuanced color palettes with traditional Japanese art.

Bernice Bing. A Lady and a Road Map. United States. 1962. Oil on canvas.

Asian Art Museum
Into View: Bernice Bing
October 7, 2022 – June 26, 2023

Discover the life, career, and community of modern artist Bernice “Bingo” Bing (1936–1998), a San Francisco original. Into View: Bernice Bing celebrates the museum’s acquisition of 20 paintings and works on paper that shine a light on an important local Asian American artist who has only recently gained broad recognition for her achievements. These works reveal the evolution of Ning’s remarkable practice, from paintings of the 1950s and 1960s that straddle Abstract Expressionism and figuration to work from the 1980s and 1990s that explores a synthesis of Zen calligraphy and Western abstraction.

Tsukamoto Kaiji (1912-1990), Lotus-form bowl

On view now in the gallery and online at Joan B Mirviss LTD:

Warm to the Touch: Cool and Refreshing Celadon

Highly prized across Asia for centuries, celadon finds inventive new expression in recent ceramics by leading Japanese artists. This summer, the captivating qualities of celadon are showcased in a range of forms and styles by a dozen modern and contemporary Japanese ceramic artists from different backgrounds and traditions. Often synonymous with a very distinctive and pristine bluish-green color, “celadon” encompasses many different tonalities and textures that challenge our expectations. From exquisite vessels to daring sculptures, works in this exhibition play with celadon’s categorical boundaries and even reconsiders its very definition.

Paired with this intriguing celadon showcase is a suite of never-before-seen paintings by MINOL ARAKI (1928-2010). An industrial designer and ink painter, Araki was a fascinating hybrid figure who bridged many worlds. As a Japanese artist born in northeast China, he was influenced by traditional Chinese painting—from Bada Shanren (ca. 1626-1705) to Zhang Daqian (1899-1983)—and by the Japanese painting movements of his time and even later, by contemporary American art. Araki’s paintings reflect his sensitivity to color and light and make a perfect complement to the landscape of celadon in this show.

The main hall of Gongga Qude Temple

The Songtsam Group, the award-winning collection of boutique hotels, resorts & tours in the Tibet & Yunnan Provinces of China is in a joint project with The Palace Museum, Gongga Qude Temple, to reprint an exquisite album entitled Murals of Gongga Qude Temple: A Milestone in the History of Tibetan Buddhist Art. Songtsam Founder and Chairman Baima Duoji noted that the purpose of the project is to “make the beauty of these historic murals, vivid carriers of Tibetan Buddhist art and culture, available to more people.” The album was first published in 2015, but due to limited funds, only a few books were printed, which were donated to various temples, universities, research institutes and others who were interested in the murals. The new reprint is composed of the digitized images of the murals of Gongga Qude Temple. Some of the murals have been re-photographed and added to this new edition of the album.

“Murals of Gongga Qude Temple: A Milestone in the History of Tibetan Buddhist Art”

Gongga Qude Temple, 60 kilometers (approx. 37.2 miles) outside of Lhasa (Tibet) and an important temple of Tibetan Buddhism, is like a museum frozen in time. Baima Duoji commented “Every Songtsam guest, as they travel from Lhasa Airport to the Songtsam Linka Retreat Lhasa, passes the Gongga Qude Temple, yet few people know that there is an ancient temple on the roadside.” The murals are a rare work of art, and it is a remarkable stroke of luck that after 600 years, the lines and colors painted by the masters can still be seen today. The Gongga Qude Temple Tour has now become an important part of the Songtsam Lhasa experience and an excellent “starting” point for guests to enter the spiritual world of the local people.

Restoration of the murals of Gongga Qude Temple

Baima concluded that “Songtsam hopes that the reprinting of this ancient Album will support Songtsam’s efforts to preserve the culture, so that the beauty of these lands can be known, understood, even appreciated and touched by people from around the world.”

l-r: Arnold Chang, Michael Cherney, Wang Mansheng

Understanding the Perpetuation of the Chinese Literati
Tradition in the Present Day

Arnold Chang|A Closer Look at Bimo 筆墨 (Brushwork)
Saturday, June 24, 2-4pm

Michael Cherney|An Unrolling Landscape – a Conversation with the Artist
Saturday, July 8, 2-4pm

Wang Mansheng|The Art and Symbolism of Tuanshan 团扇 (Round Fan)
Friday, September 22, 6-8pm

This summer Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is hosting a series of three in person dialogues, entitled Understanding the Perpetuation of the Chinese Literati Tradition in the Present Day, featuring distinguished artists and independent scholars Arnold Chang, Michael Cherney, and Wang Mansheng. The talks will delve into the exploration of Chinese ink painting, landscape art, and aesthetic development and will be moderated by Fang Xian, artist, independent scholar and partner at FQM.

For more information and to book tickets ($12 each), click here.