Chemchok Heruka Mandala (detail), Tibet, second half 12th century, mineral pigments on cotton, 38 × 32 in. (96.5 × 81.3 cm), Michael J. and Beata McCormick Collection

Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet
September 19, 2024 – January 12, 2025
The Met Fifth Ave, Robert Lehman Wing, Galleries 963–965

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is pleased to open Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet during this Fall Asian art season. The exhibition will examine various thematic components of Tibetan mandalas, which are intricately designed diagrams used in Vajrayana Buddhist practice, and will highlight the specific iconography that helps guide individuals on their spiritual path toward enlightenment. It will explore the imagery of the Himalayan Buddhist devotional art through over 100 paintings, sculptures, textiles, instruments, and an array of ritual objects, mostly dating between the 12th and 15th centuries. This dazzling visual experience provides a roadmap for understanding Himalayan Buddhist worship through early masterworks, juxtaposed with a newly commissioned contemporary installation by Tibetan artist Tenzing Rigdol, which addresses modern issues such as climate change and social responsibility.

To learn more, click here.

Accompanying this exhibit will be a range of educational opportunities, including in-gallery conversations, panels, demonstrations, and hands-on activities for all ages throughout the run of the show, some of which are listed below:

Mandalas—An In-Depth Look
Sunday, September 22, 2–3:30pm
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium

Join a group of experts to examine the significance and meaning of the Tibetan mandala. Listen as Christian Luczanits discusses the 11th to 15th-century artistic tradition and conceptualization of the mandala and how it was used to offer a rapid path to enlightenment. Then, hear David Gray expand on these ideas in light of his research on the tantric deity Chakrasamvara. Finally, Tenzing Rigdol addresses how his secular mandalic installation is grounded in this long tradition. Free with Museum admission, though advance registration is recommended.

To RSVP, click here.

Met Expert Talks—Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet
Thursday, Sept 26, 3pm; Tuesday, Nov 19, 3pm; Tuesday, Jan 9, 3pm
Gallery 963, The Robert Lehman Collection

Join Museum experts, including curators, conservators, scientists, and scholars, for a deep dive into a selection of exhibition objects in the galleries. Hear new insights and untold stories from Met insiders and take a closer look at the works of art. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions. Free with Museum admission, though advance registration is recommended.

To RSVP, click here.

Fukumoto Fuku (b.1973), Sun and Moon, 2024, glazed porcelain sculptures with either gold or platinum leaf and dust; Sun (gold): 10 3/8 x 15 5/8 x 11 3/4 in.; Moon (platinum): 12 5/8 x 15 1/8 x 13 1/4 in.; Photography by Okawara Hikari

Quiet Elegance: The Ceramics of Fukumoto Fuku
Opening Friday, September 13, 2024
AWNY Autumn 2024 Hours: Weekdays, 11am-6pm & Open Saturday Sept 14
39 East 78th Street, 4th floor

Joan B Mirviss LTD is delighted to host the third solo show of Fukumoto Fuku during Asia Week New York Autumn 2024.  Quiet Elegance: The Ceramics of Fukumoto Fuku will feature over two dozen of her captivating sculptures and teabowls, created specifically for this exhibition.

The enchanting work in porcelain by Fukumoto continues to enthrall collectors and curators with their soft, radiant, unglazed surfaces punctuated by glistening glazes in shades of blue ranging from the deepest cobalt or teal to powder blue or soft gray.  With the occasional final addition of platinum or gold leaf to the surfaces, her finished vessels evoke the ephemeral radiance of the sun or moon peeking through clouds or mist – embodying each sculpture with a wistful beauty.

They look forward to your visit when the exhibit opens this Friday, September 13th!

Until then, to learn more and view their online catalog, click here.

Sakya School (Tibet, 16th century), Mandala of Hevajra, ink and color on cloth, 21 1/4 x 17 15/16 in.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Henry and Louise Loeb, 1982 (1982.225); Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In addition to all the tremendous exhibitions at our AWNY member galleries and auction houses during Asia Week Autumn 2024, our member museums are also opening exciting Asian Art exhibits in New York City and the surrounding areas. Below is a highlight of soon-to-be-opened and ongoing shows and events this month. Click on each museum heading for further information.

SHOWS OPENING SOON

CHARLES B. WANG CENTER AT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY

Courtesy Charles B. Wang Center

Yarnscapes: Mulyana’s Environmental Tapestries
Opens September 14, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, September 13, 2024, 5-7pm (kindly RSVP)
Artist Lecture: October 23, 2-3pm

The Charles B. Wang Center proudly presents Yarnscapes: Mulyana’s Environmental Tapestries, an exhibition that offers a unique opportunity for the public to engage with the immersive and thought-provoking works of renowned Indonesian artist Mulyana. Yarnscapes celebrates the artist’s distinctive use of knitting and crocheting to create large-scale installations that showcase human endurance, creativity, and a profound connection to the divine and nature.

KOREA SOCIETY

Courtesy Korea Society

Dyadic | Annette Hur & Hayoon Jay Lee
Opens September 12, 2024
Opening Reception: September 12, 5-7pm (kindly RSVP)

In this duo exhibition, two Korean-born artists based in New York present their own expositions and elucidations on abstract art. With her bold colors and brushstroke, Annette Hur deliberately positions her paintings in between abstraction and figuration, dealing with the conflicts of the real lived experience and how her body remembers and processes it. Hayoon Jay Lee uses rice as object, motif, metaphor and visceral biomorphic forms, meticulously and meditatively arranging individual grains of rice into a surface with modeling paste to create physical and emotional topographies.

KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER NY

Courtesy Korean Cultural Center New York

Ik-Joong Kang: We are Connected
Opens September 26, 2024

Ik-Joong Kang bridges East and West through his evocative art. This exhibition reflects his artistic world weaving diverse elements into a harmonious tapestry to illustrate the interconnectedness of our global community. Kang’s art invites reflection on our own journeys, our connections with others, and the beautiful complexity of the world we inhabit.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Chemchok Heruka Mandala (detail), Tibet, second half 12th century, mineral pigments on cotton, 38 × 32 in. (96.5 × 81.3 cm), Michael J. and Beata McCormick Collection; Courtesy The Met

Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet
Opens September 19, 2024
Mandalas—An In-Depth Look Discussion
Sunday, September 22, 2–3:30pm
Met Expert Talks—Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet
Thursday, September 26, 3–3:45pm

A mandala is a diagram of the universe—a map of true reality that in Tibet is used to conceptualize a rapid path to enlightenment. This exhibition explores the imagery of the Himalayan Buddhist devotional art through over 100 paintings, sculptures, textiles, instruments, and an array of ritual objects, mostly dating between the 12th and 15th centuries. This dazzling visual experience provides a roadmap for understanding Himalayan Buddhist worship through early masterworks, juxtaposed with a newly commissioned contemporary installation by Tibetan artist Tenzing Rigdol.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART

Iskandar and the talking tree (detail), folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings), Iran, probably Tabriz, Ilkhanid dynasty, ca. 1330, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1935.23; Courtesy National Museum of Asian Art

An Epic of Kings: The Great Mongol Shahnama 
Opens September 21, 2024
Zoom Webinar: Sneak Peek | Exhibiting a Book like No Other: The Great Mongol Shahnama
Tuesday, September 17, 12-12:40pm

Monumental in size and boldly illustrated, the Great Mongol Shahnama is one of the most celebrated of all medieval Persian manuscripts. An Epic of Kings offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see twenty-five folios from this now dismantled manuscript. It is also the first exhibition to present paintings from the Great Mongol Shahnama alongside contemporaneous works from China, the Mediterranean, and the Latin West. Experience this unique historical moment of cultural exchange across Eurasia—where commodities, people, and ideas circulated like never before—with Iran at its center.

Join curator Simon Rettig for a Zoom talk on September 17 as he offers a sneak peak into this exhibit and introduce the intricate text-image relationship in this copy of Iran’s national epic.

To learn more and sign up, click here.

 

ONGOING SHOWS

BROOKLYN MUSEUM

Kondō Takahiro (Japanese, born 1958), Reflection: TK Self Portrait, 2010., glazed porcelain, 19 1/16 × 6 3/16 in. (48.5 × 15.7 cm); Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection, © Kondō Takahiro. (Photo: Richard P. Goodbody and John Morgan); Courtesy Brooklyn Museum

Museum Spotlight: Porcelains in the Mist: The Kondō Family of Ceramicists
Through December 8, 2024

Porcelains in the Mist brings together sixty-one pieces that celebrate the Kondō family’s innovations and talents. Their early creations range from freehand-painted vases to pure-white jars. Most of the works on view are by  Kondō Takahiro, who often pairs his “mist,” which he describes as “water born from fire,” with dramatic shapes and textures. For the last one hundred years, Kondō Takahiro and his father Kondō Hiroshi (1936–2012), grandfather Kondō Yūzō (1902–1985), and uncle Kondō Yutaka (1932–1983) have broken free of centuries-old traditions to pursue original, individual expression.

CHINA INSTITUTE GALLERY

Courtesy China Institute

Gold from Dragon City: Masterpieces of Three Yan From Liaoning, 337–436
Through January 5, 2025
International Symposium: October 19, 9:30am-5:30pm
DCTA Gallery Tour & Workshop: September 5, 2024-January 5, 2025

Nearly 70 years of archeological excavations in the capital of the three Yan states — Dragon City (longcheng), today’s Chaoyang in Liaoning province — have revealed extraordinary treasures. This landmark exhibition presents these precious artworks and cultural objects for the first time in the United States featuring such objects as sculptures, bronze mirrors, inkstones, imperial seals, and ceramic vessels, with highlights of gold ornaments and equestrian objects. This exhibition attempts to illustrate and revive the faded history of ethnic integration and cultural exchange along the Steppe-Silk Road that transformed northern China more than 1,600 years ago.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.
Through October 20, 2024
Met Expert Talks—Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.
Tuesday, October 1 at 3 pm

This exhibition feature more than 180 extraordinary examples from the personal collection of Edward C. Moore, the creative force who led Tiffany & Co. to unparalleled originality and success during the second half of the 19th century. 70 magnificent silver objects designed and created at Tiffany & Co. under his direction and drawn primarily from the holdings of The Met are also exhibited along with seldom seen examples from a dozen private and public lenders.

THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART

Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), c. 1831, Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849), 1958-49-5; Courtesy The Philadelphia Museum of Art

Visions of the Land in Edo Japan
Through January 13, 2025

Pictorial representations of the land blossomed in Japan during the Edo period (1615–1868), an era of peace and prosperity.  Featuring recent acquisitions and choice examples from museum’s collection, this exhibition invites you to explore the three modes of landscape presented—poetic, iconic, and panoramic. Together, these visions of the land manifest the dynamism of Edo Japan.

THE RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART

Meena Kayastha, Goddess Varahi, 2023, traditional Nepali door, papier-mache, pliers, nails, coins, keys, jewelry, bell, discarded vehicle metal parts, 58 x 28 x 9 in.; photo courtesy of Meena Kayastha, Bhaktapur, Nepal; Roshan Pradhan, New World, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 183 x 152.5 cm; photo courtesy of Sangeeta Thapa, Founder Director Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal; Shushank Shrestha, Male Guardian Lion Dog (one of a pair from Two Guardian Lion Dogs), 2023, ceramic, in glaze lustre; 52 × 27 × 44 in.; photo courtesy of Shuhank Shrestha, Massachusetts, USA; Courtesy The Rubin Museum of Art

Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now
Through October 6, 2024

Before the Museum closes their physical galleries on 17th Street on October 6, be sure to check out their groundbreaking exhibitions and events, including this Museum-wide exhibition of artworks by over 30 contemporary artists, many from the Himalayan region and diaspora and others inspired by Himalayan art and cultures. Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now transforms the entire Museum with new commissions, some site-specific, and existing works juxtaposed with objects from the Museum’s collection, inviting new ways of encountering traditional Himalayan art.

YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY

Attributed to Kaihō Yūshō, Pair of Screens with Dragons and Waves, Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615), ca. 1600–1615. Ink on paper. Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Rosemarie and Leighton R. Longhi, B.A. 1967; Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery

Year of the Dragon
Through November 10, 2024

This exhibition celebrates 2024, the Year of the Dragon, with a presentation of nearly 30 artworks spanning from the 17th century to the present day. The objects on view, which are largely drawn from the collection of the collection, feature dragons on folding screens, other paintings, textiles, ceramics, ivory, and woodblock prints. Taking inspiration from East Asian history, folklore, and myth, these works demonstrate a long, complex, and continuing artistic tradition around this fantastical creature.

Installation view Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West

Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West
Through October 19, 2024
65 East 80th Street

During Asia Week Autumn 2024, be sure to visit the dynamic group exhibit currently on view at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art! Exploring the artistic evolution of East Asian traditions as they spread to the Western art milieu, Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West focuses on the exchange and interaction of visual language and conceptual frameworks between traditional ink art and modern American art.

The exhibit showcases works by more than 15 artists, including classical and modern masters Bada Shanren (1626-1705), Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and C.C. Wang (1907-2003), alongside contemporary artists such as Michael Cherney, whose artist language bridges the gap between tradition and the present offering reflections on identity, cultural exchange and the ongoing dialogue between East and West.

With a vibrant mix of traditional East Asian paintings alongside contemporary pieces that honor and expand upon East Asian traditions, Transcultural Dialogues is sure to open your eyes to this fascinating interplay between classical Chinese artistry and edgy contemporary expressions!

To learn more, click here.