Queering Contemporary Asian American Art

Nakane, Kazuko

Johns, Barbara

Contemporary Asian American artists--with a strong sense of being American and an acute critical consciousness of world matters--grapple with issues of identity in a way that sets them apart from their predecessors. Whereas many Asian American artists of a previous generation directly referred to an Asian sense of self in their works, it can be argued that younger Asian American artists only sometimes make reference to it or omit it entirely. <p/>This creatively designed book focuses on recent works by seventeen Asian American artists born in the late 1960s and 1970s--including Patty Chang, Kaz Oshiro, and Jean Shin--to explore this pivotal generation of artists, the prevalent themes in their art, and the different ways they configure identity in their work. <i>One Way or Another</i> features examples of painting, sculpture, and video and installation art--many previously unpublished--and includes essays that discuss the shifting meaning of Asian America over the last decade and address the issues of mixed heritage and the emergence of an evolving Asian American identity in an increasingly globalized society. <p/>Distributed for the Asia Society Museum <br><p> <br><strong>Exhibition Schedule: </strong></p><p>Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California (September 19 - December 23, 2007)<br></p><p>Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston (January 20 - March 31, 2007)<br></p><p>Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (February 9 - May 2, 2008)<br></p><p>Asia Society and Museum, New York (September 8 - December 10, 2006)<br></p>

Moss, Dorothy

Ruth Asawa Through Line

<p><b>A constellation of the powerful Japanese American artists and designers who shaped American design in the postwar era</b></p><p>Beauty and craftsmanship are hallmarks of midcentury Japanese American art and design. From Isamu Noguchi's iconic furniture to Ruth Asawa's inventive wire sculptures, Japanese American artists transformed the aesthetic landscape of postwar America. Yet beneath this artistry lies a shared history marked by forced relocation and incarceration during World War II. Confronting this difficult past, <i>Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America</i> offers a recontextualization of the work of influential twentieth-century artists and designers through the lens of 1940s Japanese American incarceration.</p><p>The six artists highlighted in this publication span two generations: those who established their practice before incarceration--sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi, architect and furniture designer George Nakashima, and sculptor Leo Amino--and those who received early artistic training in the camps--graphic designer S. Neil Fujita, fiber artist and weaver Kay Sekimachi, and sculptor Ruth Asawa. Interviews with the artists' children and grandchildren and a conversation with the sole surviving artist, Sekimachi, offer intimate insights into the artists' lives and practices. Collectively, the works, essays, and reflections address the broader histories of Asian labor in the United States, the racialization of Japanese Americans, and critical themes of visibility versus invisibility.</p><p>Distributed for the Barnes Foundation</p><p><b>Exhibition Schedule: </b></p><p><b>Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia</b><br>(September 20, 2026-January 10, 2027)</p>