TOP TEN ASIAN AMERICAN MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS Arranged by Viviancess Kue

TOP TEN ASIAN AMERICAN MODERN AND

CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS

Arranged by Viviancess Kue

What is Asian American art?The answer cannot be found but rather interpreted for a person for himself. What I have discovered about Asian

American art, for myself, is that the artist does not necessarily have to be

Asian American. To me, Asian American art is any piece of artwork that has been

influenced or shows the culture, personal experiences, or the structure of Asian

America. What I mean by this is that the many Asian American movements, struggles,

cultural customs, and immigration experiences are displayed in art pieces, symbolizing the Asian American history and

heritage.

Modern Art Art from the Impressionists (say, around

1880) up until the 1960's or 70's. Artist's in this era usually are influenced by their

immigration

Contemporary Art Art from the 1960's or 70's up until this very minute. (Esaak, Shelly) Artists in this era usually are influenced by World War II

and immigration

The difference between Modern art and Contemporary art is the time frame of eras.

Modern Art was before World War II and before the mass migration of Asian

immigrants where as Contemporary art emerged after the war and during the time of the mass migration of Asian immigrants.

*Please note: The featured artists are either Modern or Contemporary or both. See

each description”

TOP TEN ASIAN AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY AND MODERN ARTISTS

ALBERT V. CHONGALBERT V. CHONG(b. 1958-)

Photographer, multimedia artists, educatorInspiration through African, Jamaican, and Chinese ancestryDeeper appreciation of the Rastafarianism culture in Jamaica through Bob MarleyAddressed racial identity, racism, exploitation, and violence

Works: Tresspass; In Memory of James Byrd, Throne for Two, The Story of My Father

CONTEMPORARY


The Story About My Father, 1995– Thermal Transfer print on canvas with incised copper

metal“His father, who endured ridicule from the Chinese community for his dark skin, also struggled to fit into the Jamaican community” (Hallmark)Another mixed media sculpture, The Throne for the Justice (1990), was in honor for his late father.Frame is engraved with words about his father.Portrait is of a woman and a man of darker skin, (his father and possibly his mother)..

CONTEMPORARYALBERT V. CHONG


Alfonso OssorioAlfonso Ossorio(b. 1916, Manila, Philippines-d. 1990, New York, NY)

Drip PaintingsAbstraction“In his later assemblage works, called 'congregations',” Ossorio used shells, driftwood, and other objects that would create a “challenging visual language that evokes the horror vacui of the tribal art of Oceania.” (Cornell)

Works: Beachcomber, Martyrs and Spectators, Sacred Heart, Veronica's Veil

MODERN


Beachcomber. 1953Oil on canvas, 84 x 144 inches, Courtesy of Michael

Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, and the Robert U. Ossorio Foundation

He “recalls the horror vacui of densley patterned non-Western art that the artist admired at the Peabody Museum” (Cornell) At the center of the painting, a white homunculus (Ossorio's conscioussness) surrounded by abstract figures that “float throughout the space of the painting, available for the viewer to visually pick out and examine” (Cornell)MODERN

ALFONSO OSSORIO


CHIURA OBATA CHIURA OBATA (b. 1885, Okayama, Japan-d.1975, Berkeley, CA)

Nihonga: Japanese term describing modern artworks reflecting ancient Japanese aestheticsDevoted his life to promote the legacy of Japanese art and philosophy.Nature appreciation

Works: Mother Earth; Setting Sun: Sacramento Valley; Lake Basin in the High Sierra

MODERN


Setting Sun: Sacramento Valley, ca. 1925Hanging scroll: ink, color, and gold on silk mounted to paper, 107 ½ x 69 in. Collection of Gyo Obata

“A Japanese American visual language engulfs the viewr as this firestorm of rays, interspersed with tiny ripples painted in gold metallic pigment, flares overhead.” (Cornell)Obata included the intensity of the flames to emphasize the Japanese heritage into this depiction of California's sunset in Sacramento Valley. Sense of heritage and freedom through the way the flares reach out from the horizon. MODERNCHIURA OBATA


ISAMU NOGUCHIISAMU NOGUCHI(b. 1904, Los Angeles, CA-d. 1988, New York, NY)

Most famous artist of Asian ancestry to have worked in the US. Mother was Irish American, and father was a Japanese poet (Yone Noguchi)Originally known as Sam GilmoreStone carving sculpturingOeuvre references multiple cultures and aestheticsAssociated with the Zen minimalism of JapanAlludes to Japanese philosophical perspecitves and aesthtics (rock gardens)

Works: Beachcomber, Martyrs and Spectators, Sacred Heart, Veronica's Veil

MODERN


Walking Void #2, 1970– 68 ¼ x 31 ½ x 25 ½ inches, Black Swedish granite,

The Noguchi Museum, Long Island City, New York

“Suggesting human legs emphatically advancing forward, it blends the walking meditation practice of some forms of Buddhism with the Shakyamuni's teaching of emptiness, the “big zero” and the impermanent nature of form.” (Cornell)Embodies a devotion to reductive asceticsm

MODERNISUMU NOGUCHI


RUTH ASAWARUTH ASAWA(b. 1926, Norwalk, CA-lives in San Francisco, CA)

Contributes to the arts through community service, education, and public art murals.1942, detained at Santa Anita racetrack in California (WWII)Inspired by Natural EnvironmentWall Hangings, sculptures, wire sculptures

Works: Mermaid Fountain, Aurora, Japanese American Internment Memorial, Desert Flower

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY


Desert Flower 1965– 18 3/8 x 18 ¾ inches, color lithographOil on canvas, 84 x 144 inches, Courtesy of Michael

Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, and the Robert U. Ossorio Foundation “Her intricately

hand-tied wire sculptures have been described as appearing to be crocheted (traditionally considered a 'woman's craft'), replicating the patterns, symmetry, and designs” (Hallmark)There is a specific focus in the lines, shapes, and textures. The idea that this is “women's craft” generates the stereotypes of gender.

MODERN & CONTEMPORARYRUTH ASAWA


SWATI KHURANASWATI KHURANA(b. 1975-)

Uses her old Hindu wedding photos as a foundation to her artistic styleVideo, sculpture, collages, drawings (digital archive)Her collages appear more “comical drawings” Inspired by Bollywood films, Tahitian women, lively animals, family photos, trophiesCollections of random items

Works: Least Dutiful Wife, Ten Years Later, Paradise Lost, Export Kwality, Eiffel Sunset

CONTEMPORARY


Eiffel Sunset, 200730 x 20 inches, archival inkjet digital print on

photogloss paper

“'By manipulating film stills, I revisited a particular song that takes the duo to a tulip field in Holland where they sing, dance and gaze love and placed them in similar dream-like landscapes amplified by glittery, fragile and illusory chandeliers.” (Khurana) Inspired by Bollywood movieCONTEMPORARYSWATI KHURANA


Tokio UeyamaTokio Ueyama(b. 1889, Wakayama, Japan-d. 1954, Los Angeles, CA)

Immigrated from JapanHis landscapes acknowledged for the use of light and shadow1930- Los Angeles Times article named him among the most skilled portraitists in the country.

Works: The Evacuee

MODERN


The Evacuee, 1942Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 ¼ in Japanese American National

Museum, Los Angeles, gift of Kayoko Tsukada, 92.20.3

“'Framed by drawn doorway curtains, she meditatively crochets, perhaps catching the last afternoon light before darkness and meager illumination would make such work difficult.” (Cornell) The woman is Ueyama's wife knitting in their barracks home in Granada Relocation Center.

MODERNTOKIO UEYAMA


Tomie AraiTomie Arai(b. 1949 -)

Masking and PortraitsHelped understand the stereotypical imagery of Asian women and experiences of Asians in AmericaLife installations, portraits, motion picturesHer work was critiqued and analyzed as grave-looking memorials for the dead. She intended her pieces to be a virtual setting of ancestry

Works: Double Happiness, Laundryman's Daughter, Renewel

CONTEMPORARY


Renewal, 199890x456 inches, silkscreened mural on canvas

“'Renewal' celebrates the historic discovery of the African Burial Ground and pays tribute to the contribution that African Americans have made to the building of New York.” (Artist List) The mural represents the cultural histories and ancestry of African American history as well as slavery.

CONTEMPORARYTOMIE ARAI


VALERIONO MONTANTE VALERIONO MONTANTE LAIGOLAIGO(b. 1930-d.1992) Philippines

PaintingsWell known Filipino American artist Immigrated to the US in 1921Work shown in Arizona and Mexico in solo and group showsContribution to art scene in Northwest (Seattle) is significant.

Works: East is West

CONTEMPORARY


Execution, 2002– 29.5 x 41.5 inches, oil on canvas

“ East is West, is an abstract design constructed of vibrant tile and mirror pieces in patters of circles, stars and squares amid a backdrop of smaller multicolored tiles.” (Hallmark)Project in honor of Filipino physician, novelist, and martyred nationalist Jose Rizal. Jose Rizal was executed in 1896 for starting a cultural revolutino in Manila.

CONTEMPORARYVALERIANO MONTANTE LAIGO


YUN GEEYUN GEE(b. 1906, Kaiping, Guangdong, China-d.1963, New York, NY)

High-key color and broken forms of European-derived CubismOrganized Chinese Revolutionary Artists Club, Cofounded Modern Gallery, Supported by city's wealthy elite

Works: Where is My Mother; Butterflies: Dream of Chuang-Tze

MODERN


Where Is My Mother, 1926-1927Oil on canvas 20 1/8 x 16 in. Collection of the Estate of Yun Gee, courtesy of Li-lan

“demonstrates why Gee was encouraged by his patrons to move to Paris, which he did in 1927.” (Cornell)Gee paints the frame scenes drawn The immigrant man and the woman both are in sorrow. “The work's evocation of emotional pain and honesty resonates with anyone who has far from home to pursue a dream.Comes with a short poem about trying to find the mother and being freed. MODERNYUN GEE

Looking through all of the books and archives, I was able to educate myself about the different backgrounds and influences of each artist. Also, I was able to compare the modern and contemporary art pieces and found that the older art pieces are more formal paintings but other than that all of the pieces had the same concept. They each built on heritage and cultural experiences while reflecting upon self-identity. Asian American art is a realm of history and ancestry that can be expressed through paint strokes, or molds, and photographs. The top ten have given me a new perspective of how I express myself in not only my future potential as a graphic artist, but as a student here at the University of Michigan.

Sincerely,-Viviancess Kue

"ARTIST LIST - Artasiamerica - A Digital Archive for Asian / Asian

American Contemporary Art History." HOME - Artasiamerica - A Digital Archive for Asian / Asian

American Contemporary Art History. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://artasiamerica.org/artist >.

Cornell, Daniell, Mark Dean Johnson, and Gordon H.

Chang. Asian American Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970. [San Francisco]: University of California,

2008. Print.

Esaak, By Shelley. "What Is "Modern" Art?" Art History Resources for Students, Enthusiasts, Artists and Educators - Artist Biographies - Art Timelines - Images and Picture Galleries. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernart/f/what_is.-Eoj.htm>.

Hallmark, Kara Kelley. Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2007. Print.

Swati Khurana. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://swatikhurana.com/>.

Out of the Archive: Process and Progress. New York, 2009. Print.

Swati Khurana. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://swatikhurana.com/>.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://artasiamerica.org/artist

http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernart/f/what_is.-Eoj.htm

http://swatikhurana.com/

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TOP TEN ASIAN AMERICAN MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS Arranged by Viviancess Kue