Jes Fan, Bivalve II, 2023. Polymer-modified gypsum, metal, glass, and pigment. Collection Timothy Tan. Photo: Pierre Le Hors. Courtesy the artist. © Jes Fan
Jes Fan: Unbounded
February 27 – June 28, 2026
Jes Fan in Conversation: Feb 26, 5:30–6:30pm
Gallery Talk: Mar 4, 12:30–1:30pm
Panel Discussion: April 9, 5:30–6:30pm
Artist on Artist Talk: Apr 29, 12:30–1:30pm
Second Floor
One of today’s leading artists, Jes Fan (b. 1990) makes sculptures that combine elegant abstract forms with an experimental and innovative approach to materials to explore the porousness of identity. Jes Fan: Unbounded focuses on works from the first decade of Fan’s career, showcasing the artist’s use of processes like glassblowing and 3D printing and materials such as resin, silicone, and biological substances. Fan’s way of conceptualizing the world has been shaped by their experience growing up in Hong Kong, both before and after its handover from Britain to China—a geographical and metaphorical crossroads of East and West, ancient and modern, colonial and postcolonial. Fan’s art challenges such binary terms, encouraging us to question inherited assumptions and consider a new way of looking at the world.
In celebration of the opening of the solo exhibition, the artist is joined in conversation by Rachel C. Lee, Professor of English and Gender Studies at UCLA, and Margaret Ewing, the Gallery’s Horace W. Goldsmith Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Together, they discuss Fan’s groundbreaking work in sculpture—its innovations in materials and processes and use of abstract form to explore themes such as the limits of binary categorization, the regenerative strategies of nonhuman species in response to external threats, and the potential for interspecies collaboration.
Also be sure to view our full calendar of related programs on our website.
To learn more, click here.
COLLECTION DISPLAYS
Installation view, The Four Accomplishments
The Four Accomplishments
January 26, 2026 – May 2026
Second Floor
East Asian art often references the Four Accomplishments—mastery of chess, calligraphy, painting, and the zither—which were initially associated with the well-educated class of scholar-bureaucrats in China. This installation includes depictions of these skills throughout East Asia and highlights the visual vibrancy of calligraphy in particular, with scrolls by the 17th-century Japanese artist Hon’ami Kōetsu and his Chinese contemporary Wang Duo, alongside an early 20th-century Korean screen by Yun Yonggun. Scenes of women that allude to the Four Accomplishments, including a print of a courtesan playing the koto (a Japanese variant of the Chinese zither), exemplify the versatility of this theme and its transmission between cultures.
To learn more, click here.
Installation view, Of Kings and Gods in Indian and Islamic Paintings
Of Kings and Gods in Indian and Islamic Paintings
January 26, 2026 – May 2026
Second Floor
The lives and exploits of kings and gods are the focus of the paintings on display from West and South Asia. A highlight is the recently acquired 17th-century battle scene from the History of Babur, the memoir of the founder of India’s Mughal dynasty. Mughal paintings were influenced by works from Safavid Persia, including depictions of historical rulers from the Book of Kings, one of the great classics of Iranian literature. Alongside portraits of Mughal courtiers and rulers in grand palaces are scenes of the Hindu god Krishna from the History of the Lord. In several paintings, Krishna wears a crown underscoring the interchangeability of royalty and divinity.
To learn more and view a video about the four Indian paintings in the display, click here.
PAST EXHIBITION
Woman’s Ceremonial Skirt (Tapis), Indonesia, Sumatra, Lampung, 16th–17th century. Cotton and silk; warp-faced plain weave, warp ikat, and embroidery. Yale University Art Gallery, Robert J. Holmgren and Anita E. Spertus Collection, Promised gift of Thomas Jaffe, B.A. 1971
Nusantara: Six Centuries of Indonesian Textiles
September 12, 2025 – January 11, 2026
Opening Lecture: Living Cloth: Textiles and Society in Indonesia, Sept 25, 5:30– 6:30pm
Gallery Talks: Oct 1, Oct 22 & Nov 12, 12:30-1:30pm
Sketching in the Gallery: Nov 13, 5:30-6:30pm
Nusantara: Six Centuries of Indonesian Textiles presents one of Southeast Asia’s most significant artistic accomplishments: woven textiles. Exploring the ancient interisland links found in this culturally diverse maritime region, the exhibition features a wide array of textiles from the 14th to the 20th century drawn from the Yale University Art Gallery’s exceptional holdings—from the batiks of Java to the ikat of Sumba, and from ceremonial cloths and ritual weavings to clothing, shrouds, and architectural hangings. Especially remarkable are several early textiles that are intricately patterned with tie-dyed designs, while select three-dimensional objects, such as sculptures, headgear, and combs, are also included to provide context. Nusantara—from the original name for the Indonesian archipelago—offers a broad overview of the rich imagery and technical mastery of this remarkable art form.
Also join us for all our related programming, including the opening lecture on September 25, where Barbara Watson Andaya, Emeritus Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawai‘i, reaches back into the past and explores how cloth and material objects reflect shifts in aesthetic preferences, ritual practices, and the assimilation of outside influences. In the process, Andaya examines the gendered dimensions of cloth production as it transitioned from a cottage industry to a central commodity in the broader economy. Although the women involved—whether in transforming bark into cloth, infusing their weaving with intricate symbolism, or painting the vibrant designs that made “batik” a household name—are often overlooked in Indonesian history, they bequeathed a legacy that is still thriving. Taking as departure points several pieces in the exhibition, the lecture traverses the Indonesian archipelago, tracing historical developments and highlighting the extraordinary diversity and cultural dynamics embedded in textiles. From the headdresses of headhunters to the cosmological motifs adorning Sumatra’s ship cloths and the mythical creatures on a batik waist wrapper from Java, this journey through time reveals both unique creativity and the profound connections between textiles and the identities of so many Indonesian communities.
Also read an interview with the curators in our fall 2025 magazine here.
To learn more and view all related programs, click here.
Special Publication Promotion
To celebrate this season’s Asia Week, we are offering a special promotion on our recently released title Celadon on the Seas: Chinese Ceramics from the 9th to the 14th Century. Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written, this publication explores the development of the southern Chinese ceramic industry from the ninth to the fourteenth century. Drawing on our Collection, it examines the artistic, historical, and technical aspects of dozens of ceramic objects, offering an overview of the industry and its unique relationship to maritime trade.
To learn more and purchase your copy, click here.
Asian Art from the Permanent Collection
The Gallery’s Chinese and Japanese collections were built initially through the gifts and bequest of Mrs. William H. Moore between 1937 and 1960. The greatest strengths of the Chinese holdings are ceramics and paintings, including a group of vessels from the Changsha region of Hunan Province, from around 500 B.C.E. to 1000 C.E., assembled for the most part by John Hadley Cox, B.A. 1935. Chinese paintings range from the Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.) through the 20th century, with particular strengths in the 17th century and in the modern and contemporary period.
The Japanese collection has important concentrations in the arts of the Edo period (1615–1868). Approximately 1,200 prints, the majority of which are ukiyo-e prints of the 18th and 19th centuries, demonstrate the breadth of this medium, and recent additions have included a group of 20th-century prints. Several important screens and hanging scrolls of the 14th through 18th century highlight the department’s holdings of Japanese painting and calligraphy, while Japanese textiles are represented by fragments from the Shōsōin repository in Nara, Noh robes, kimonos, and a collection of Buddhist priests’ robes. Japanese ceramics, a growing area of the collection, span from the Neolithic period to the presend day, with important recent additions of contemporary ceramic sculpture.
The South Asian and Islamic collections, again founded by the gifts of Mrs. Moore, are represented by an excellent group of textiles, ceramics, miniature paintings, and manuscript pages. Gifts of over 80 Persian and Indian miniature paintings, and others of Indian sculpture, have greatly augmented the holdings of Iranian and Indian art.
To view highlights in the collection, click here.
