ASIA WEEK NEW YORK EXHIBITIONS
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
March 4 – August 10, 2025
Patrons Preview Tour: Monday, March 3, 5:30-6pm
Members-Only Opening: Monday, March 3, 6-9pm
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.
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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.
Imperial Treasures: Chinese Ceramics of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
February 18 – August 10, 2025
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.
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Yang Fudong (born 1971 in Beijing, China; lives and works in Shanghai), Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest, Part I, 2003, single-channel video with sound; 35mm black-and-white film transferred to DVD, duration: 29 minutes, 22 seconds; Asia Society, New York: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold and Ruth Newman, 2011.24
Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest
February 18 – August 10, 2025
Asia Society Museum is showing Yang Fudong’s Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest, in its entirety as a prelude to the upcoming exhibition, (Re)Generations: Rina Banerjee, Byron Kim, and Howardena Pindell amid the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Collection, opening in March. The work follows seven young men and women on journeys in search of their identities and ideal lives, reflecting the many urban, ideological, and economic transformations across China today.
In 2003, Yang Fudong produced the first part of his five-part film; one part of the film was created each year (in sequential order), and the entire work was finished in 2007. The work has no clear narrative, although each part takes place in a different setting. Some parts take place in a rural environment, while others are set in cities. The film poses questions about the dissonance between men and women, individuals and society, the past and present, and reality and an ideal world.
Each part was originally shot in 35mm film, which was then transferred to DVD. Yang prefers to shoot in film, as opposed to digital video, as he believes that film retains a strong sense of the artist’s touch, which digital videos often lack. The five parts differ in length, ranging from approximately thirty to seventy minutes; the total running time amounts to about four hours.
Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest was first screened at the 2007 Venice Biennale, receiving high praise. Asia Society Museum acquired the work in 2011.
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Hiraki Sawa: Journeys in Place
March 4 – August 10, 2025
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, click here.
ASIA WEEK NEW YORK EVENTS
Panel Discussion: Art in Food and Photography
A Story of Taste from the Global Trade of Ceramics to Instagram-age Food Porn
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 from 6:30-7:30pm
Tickets: $25 general, $15 members
In the span of a decade and a half since Instagram’s founding, the social media platform has propelled images to the forefront of our communications, where food is one of the most popular subjects. “Camera eats first” has become a cultural mainstay, and restaurants and influencers alike have gravitated toward and cashed in on the dramatic, atmospheric, and pretty presentations of food. The various ceramic wares on view in Asia Society Museum’s (Re)Generations and Imperial Treasures exhibitions, and the exhibition Monstrous Beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are examples of how global trade, imperialism, and the exchange of aesthetics all culminated in our current enjoyment and obsession of food content that is not necessarily edible.
Join Esther M. Choi, artist and author of Le Corbuffet, Iris Moon, curator of Monstrous Beauty, and Natasha Pickowicz, dessert chef and author of More than Cake, in a conversation moderated by Kelly Ma, Curator of Learning & Outreach at Asia Society Museum, to explore more into the world of art in food and its presentation.
To learn more and purchase tickets, click here.
Leo Bar Happy Hour at Asia Society Museum
Thursday, March 20, 2025 from 5:30-8:00pm
Tickets: $25 (includes a free drink & museum admission)
Kick off your weekend with a night of fun and culture! On select evenings monthly, enjoy cocktails and culture at our signature Leo Bar happy hour events. The Asia Society Museum stays open late with free admission and exhibition tours, while the Garden Court provides a gorgeous backdrop to enjoy refreshments, mingle with friends, and make new connections.
To learn more and purchase tickets, click here.
Installations
March 4 – August 10, 2025
Also on view will be Marcos Kueh’s colorful, fluorescent tapestries that critically address the theme of eroticization and tourism, particularly on the island of Borneo, where Kueh was born and where identity and culture are commodified as touristic entertainment; Yoko Ono’s ongoing interactive art installation, Wish Tree, begun in 1996, where visitors are invited to write a wish on a paper tag and tie it to the tree; and Ai Wei Wei’s With Colored Vase, 2008, where he asks us to confront our values in relation to the past.
To learn more, click here.
