Archives
Contemporary East Asian art curators to meet, discuss their discipline
Lianne
Zhang, News Bureau
217-333-1085
Melissa
Mitchell, News Editor
217-333-5491; melissa@uiuc.edu
2/13/06
|
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —
Art historians and curators from across the nation will gather at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Feb. 17-18 for "Making
a Scene: Curating Contemporary East Asian Art in the U.S."
The free, public event is sponsored by the university’s Center
for East Asian and Pacific Studies, Krannert
Art Museum, and Illinois Program
for Research in the Humanities. It includes a panel discussion,
performance, workshop and art exhibition.
Most events take place at the museum, 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign.
A complete list of activities, including locations and times, is available
on the Web.
"This is an important meeting of curators who are looking into
contemporary Japanese, Chinese and Korean art," said event co-organizer
Anne Burkus-Chasson, a U. of I. professor of art
history and of East Asian languages
and cultures. "Curators have the power to define and to frame
what is contemporary East Asian art for their audience in the U.S. We
have asked the curators to reflect on what they have chosen to exhibit
and what they have chosen not to exhibit."
|
What the curators
have to show and tell should appeal to at least two primary audiences: "people who take an interest in art, generally,
and people interested in Asia, but not necessarily art," said the
event’s other co-organizer, U. of I. anthropology professor and EAPS director Nancy Abelmann said.
"The number one question that will be looked at," she said,
"is, ‘What is contemporary Asian art?’ "
"We are also interested in defining the difference – if any
– between the reception of Chinese, Japanese and Korean art in
the U.S.," Burkus-Chasson said.
Attention to contemporary Asian art began in the United States in the
1990s, Abelmann said. To date, much of that attention has been focused
on the work of Chinese and Japanese artists. Among the highlights of
the U. of I. program will be an expansion of that focus – "to
pause and reflect" on the contributions of emerging Korean artists
as well.
"In terms of cultural history, contemporary Korean art has not
held that same attention (as work by Japanese and Chinese artists),"
despite the fact that "there is a very healthy, Korean diasporic
community in the U.S.," Abelmann said.
|
According to Burkus-Chasson, visiting curators planning to participate
in panel discussions at the U. of I. are among the most active and influential
people in their field.
"It’s very remarkable to have these people in a room together
– it probably won’t happen again," Abelmann said.
On the program:
• Arnold
Chang (Zhang Hong), an artist, art historian, teacher, critic, appraiser
and dealer whose own work is based on classical paintings dating to
the 14th century. Chang will demonstrate his painting style and technique
from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 18 at the museum. His paintings also
are on view there through Feb. 18 in an exhibition that includes selections
from the Krannert’s own collection of modern Chinese art.
• Britta
Erickson, an independent scholar and curator whose work focuses on
contemporary Chinese art. Erickson has curated a number of shows in
the U.S., most recently, "On the Edge: Contemporary Chinese Artists
Encounter the West."
The exhibition will travel to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in July.
• Yu
Yeon Kim, an independent curator who has been a commissioner and a
curator of various biennales, including the Kwangju Biennale in 2000.
She recently curated the show "DMZ_2005: Demilitarized Zone between North and
South Korea," which brought together a group of international
artists in Paju, South Korea.
• Alexandra
Monroe, former director of the Japan Society Gallery, New York City,
and the newly appointed – and first – senior
curator of Asian art at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. Monroe is
planning an exhibition there titled "Contemplating the East: Asian
Ideas and Modern American Art."
• Julia
F. Andrews, professor of Chinese art history at Ohio State University.
Andrews was co-curator of the modern section of the Guggenheim’s
1998 exhibition "China: 5,000 Years," the first comprehensive
exhibition of modern Chinese art in this country. She also co-wrote
the exhibition catalog, "A Century in Crisis: Modernity and Tradition
in the Art of Twentieth-Century China."
Catalogs from shows curated by visiting panelists will be on reserve
prior to and during the event at the Ricker Library in the Architecture
Building, 608 E. Lorado Taft Drive, Champaign.
