What's Happening in Asian Art...: Asian Art News
June 5, 2023
Kohei Nakamura, Kohiki Tea Bowl (C24290) / Takeshi Imaizumi, Blue Porcelain Tea Bowl (C25938) / Agnes Husz, Duality Tea-bowl 1 (C25909) / Yasushi Fujihira, Tea Bowl “Silver” (C25941) Tomoyuki Hoshino, Sugar Glazed Tea Bowl (C25914)
June 8-July 13, 2023
Opening reception: June 8, 6-8pm
RSVP is encouraged
The exhibition is a showcase of eighteen selected ceramic artists representing styles from traditional to modern—emerging visionaries, rising stars, respected masters, and a Living National Treasure. The more than a hundred tea bowls presented provide a wide sampling of their artistry.
The “Way of Tea” began in Japan during the sixteenth century with the famed Sen no Rikyu, and this treasured facet of Japanese life has thrived until today. Used in the tea ceremony, the tea bowl (chawan) is the only art form that arouses such intimate emotions or possesses such a close and physical sensitivity. Japanese artists have sought out the perfect chawan form for more than four centuries. Tea bowls made at Bizen, one of Japan's "six great kilns," by artists using the production process that has been handed down from generation to generation are on view. New developments in kiln machinery have enabled artists in other regions of Japan to produce modern works of original character, which are also included here.
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June 2, 2023
Indian, Andhra Pradesh, Picchwai, late 18th century, cotton with pigments, gold and silver paint, 74 × 52 in. (188 × 132.1 cm), Banoo and Jeevak Parpia Collection.
Woven Wonders: Indian Textiles from the Parpia Collection
June 10-September 4, 2023
The Parpia Collection is one of the most significant private collections of Indian textiles outside of India and one of the most important in the United States. Woven Wonders: Indian Textiles from the Parpia Collection brings this extraordinary collection to Houston audiences for the first time.
Assembled to reflect India’s myriad range of regional traditions, the Parpia Collection includes singular pieces that showcase the extraordinary aesthetic and technical diversity of Indian textiles. From folk textiles to the most sophisticated court textiles, produced from the 14th to early 20th centuries, the collection illustrates the preeminence of textile arts produced in India with examples of hand-painted and hand-block-printed cotton, embroidery, ikat, tie-dye, brocade, and tapestry.
Woven Wonders: Indian Textiles from the Parpia Collection is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and co-curated by Amy Poster, Consulting Curator, MFAH, and Rosemary Crill, former Senior Curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Ithaca, New York–based collectors Banoo and Jeevak Parpia have been collecting textiles from India since the 1980’s. They have been involved with the Museum since 2018, first as guest speakers on India’s global textile traditions, and then as experts to help survey and review selections from the Museum’s Annette Finnigan Collection.
For more information about the exhibition and related events, click here.
June 1, 2023
Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection, September 2022-January 2023, Cleveland Museum of Art, OH. Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Unexpected Dialogues: Japanese Ceramics in New Contexts
June 22, 2023 at 5pm EST (New York)
Because contemporary Japanese ceramics are so versatile, they can stand in comfortable and even intriguing conversation with all kinds of art. Encompassing a wide variety of forms, styles, surface treatments and patterning, their many alluring aspects speak to other artworks from vastly different cultures and time periods. The resulting dialogues enrich our understanding of not only the juxtaposed art but also of the people who have thoughtfully brought them together.
In this ZOOM Gallery Talk, expert panelists show us the many new contexts that they have discovered for contemporary Japanese ceramics. With curator Heather Brown, collectors Nancy and Joe Keithley examine their extraordinary interdisciplinary collection and how it was displayed privately and then publicly at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Curator Mari Hanazato, who was part of the Musée Tomo in Tokyo from its inception, explores how a museum's physical space is integral to sparking unexpected dialogues between artworks and among visitors. New York-based collector Matthew Nimetz expands upon his reflections in the 2019 book, The Allure of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, and talks about living with a diverse collection built over decades.
PANELISTS:
Heather Lemonedes Brown, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Cleveland Museum of Art, OH
Mari Hanazato, Curator at Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, formerly chief curator at Musée Tomo, Tokyo
Nancy and Joe Keithley, Ohio-based art collectors and museum patrons
Matthew Nimetz, New York-based art collector
moderated by Joan Mirviss
To register for this free event, please click here.
May 31, 2023
(Left) Tea bowl by Shingu Sayaka; (Right) Tea bowl by Tsujimura Yui.
June 5 - July 5, 2023
Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. is delighted to present Contemporary Chadōgu, a summer showcase of contemporary ceramics for the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
Often a meditative and serious subject, this exhibition offers the range of contemporary interpretations and expressions of Japanese ceramic tea utensils in a different light for both life-long and new collectors. The show will feature a selection of 45 tea bowls, water jars, and tea caddies.
May 30, 2023
Emanuel Hahn, Eden Foods, 2020
Artist Talk: Emanuel Hahn
Video Release
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Emanuel Hahn's Koreatown Dreaming series was born out of a sense of urgency to document the stories of Koreatown LA during the Covid-19 pandemic and creeping gentrification. Although Koreatown is increasingly a popular destination for tourists and transplants, many small businesses in Koreatown serving the local population are closing, and long-time establishments and mom-and-pop stores have disappeared without leaving a record of their history and contributions to the city of Los Angeles. Documenting the lives and stories of those who are still surviving, his photo series offers a compelling insight into this entrepreneurial immigrant group.
Hahn, one of the two photographers featured in The Korea Society's Koreatown LA/NY, talks about his career and work.
Click here to receive the viewing link.
May 29, 2023
Join China Institute in a thought-provoking discussion between artist Xuguang Liu, art critic Anthony Haden-Guest, and art historian and curator Zhijian Qian on Liu’s upcoming exhibition Dialogue with Arthur C. Danto at the WhiteBox Art Center.
Xuguang Liu completed his PhD at Beijing’s Tsinghua University with a “Theory of Essence Consciousness,” and subsequently he elaborated this concept during art study visits to Japan. His research was based on a single character from the oldest Chinese character tradition, marks of “bu” (卜) found on Chinese bone writing. On the basis of this character he created works, often using large sheets of rice paper, on which he drew a dense web of “bu” (卜) marks, drawn with oily earthy work ink and iron dust he made himself.
To reserve a spot, click here.
May 26, 2023
Kamisaka Sekka, Hydrangeas, from the series “World of Things (Momoyogusa),” 1904-1915. Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Fischer Fund. The Art Institute of Chicago
The Arranged Flower: Ikebana and Flora in Japanese Prints will be on view at the Art Institute of Chicago until July 9, 2023.
The artful display of flowers in Japanese culture known as ikebana (ike means “to arrange,” and bana or hana means “flowers”) likely originated with arrangements dedicated to Buddhist deities in temples, where the presentations sought to capture the beauty of paradise.
Japan’s first formal school of flower arranging developed in the 15th century, and ikebana remains a prominent and disciplined manifestation of a larger focus on nature in Japanese culture. The practice emphasizes the lines formed by the placement of the leaves, branches, and twigs and, when successful, conveys a sense of harmony among the plants, their vessels, and their settings.
The prints in this presentation largely date to the Edo period (1615–1868), when an intense interest in botany flourished hand-in-hand with ikebana at all levels of society. The arrangements shown are formal and informal, ordinary, and fantastic. What they share is an appreciation for natural beauty often overlooked in everyday life.

Mimasu Daigorō IV as Umeōmaru (right panel); Nakamura Utaemon IV as Matsuōmaru (center panel); and Jitsukawa Ensaburō as Sakuramaru (left panel), 1851, Konishi Hirosada (also called Gosōtei Hirosada) (Japanese, active 1826-1863, died c. 1865) Published by Daijin, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Scandal & Virtue: Staging Kabuki in Osaka can be seen at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through July 24.
This installation examines the way Kabuki actor prints in Japan during the Edo period (1615—1868) functioned as conduits of fame and scandal. Explore the role of Kabuki actors as celebrities, the influence of the government, and fan culture. Grounded in Osaka’s actor print and Kabuki fan culture, the installation interweaves prints produced in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to explore topics of censorship and fandom as well as tales of banishment and rivalry.
In 2008, Jack Shear gifted the museum 525 Osaka prints increasing opportunities for nuanced discussions about the unique print culture in Osaka during the Edo period. A selection of images from this gift alongside other actor prints from the museum’s collection encourages connecting with Edo period Kabuki fandom and celebrity culture by drawing parallels with contemporary fan culture.
May 25, 2023
Western Paradise (Taima Mandala). Japan, 1600s, Edo period. Ink, color, and gold on silk. Gift in honor of Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes by John Davis Hatch, 1971.64 image height: 43.25 in, 109.8550 cm; image width: 37 in, 93.9800 cm; overall height: 47 in, 119.38 cm; overall width: 38 3/4 in, 98.425 cm
Insight: Taking Care–Handling and Storing the Arts of Asia Collections
May 30, 2023 6 - 7 pm
Join Sarah Melching, Silber Director of Conservation, and Hyonjeong Han, Joseph de Heer Curator of Asian Art, to celebrate AAPI Month and learn more about how the delicate, centuries-old paintings and calligraphy on silk and paper and other materials in the Arts of Asia collection are treated, handled, and stored.
Curators and conservators work together to keep the museum’s artworks safe, authentic, and in tip top condition, both on and off the walls. Get a glimpse at the methods, special tools, and careful techniques that ensure a long life for these special objects.
This event takes place both onsite in Sharp Auditorium and online. Buy onsite tickets or virtual tickets today.
Last chance to see:

Southwestern Iran, Khamseh Lion Rug, 1800's. Hand-knotted wool pile, wool warp and weft; 67 x 76n inches; Private Collection, courtesy Denver Art Museum.
Denver Art Museum:
May 29 is the last day of Rugged Beauty: Antique Carpets from Western Asia. The exhibition opens a window into the artistic and utilitarian innovations of weavers, domestic consumption, and the cross-cultural exchanges between present-day Turkey, Iran, and the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) from the 1500s to the 1900s.

Isohi Setsuko, High Mountain, 2019, madake bamboo and rattan, 14 x 16 x 8.75 in. Courtesy of TAI Modern.
Charles B. Wang Center
The Splendor of Bamboo: Japanese Contemporary Baskets concludes on May 31, 2023. The twenty-seven baskets on display, on loan from TAI Modern reflect the longstanding basket-weaving traditions and modern transformations of Japanese basketry with advanced plaiting skills and experimentation with new shapes.
May 23, 2023
Chen Duxi, Comtemplate 持颐 #70, 2023, Mineral pigment on silk, Framed, 9 7/8 x 26 3/8 in.
A Hint of Coolness
May 26 - September 2, 2023
at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Lance Letscher, Parrots under the bridge, 2023, collage, 20.00 x 17.00 in.
Figure 8: New Works by Lance Letscher
May 26 - June 24, 2023
at TAI Modern
The group exhibition at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art, “A Hint of Coolness,” draws inspiration from a recurring theme in traditional Chinese poetry that celebrates the pleasure of experiencing coolness during the scorching summer months.
The show features a carefully selected array of works by celebrated artists such as Arnold Chang, Michael Cherney, Chen Duxi, Fung Ming Chip, Tai Xiangzhou, Tang Ke, C.C.Wang, Wang Mansheng, Yau Wing Fung, and Zhang Xiaoli.
The exhibition will be divided into two parts, with the first running from May 26th to July 9th, and the second from July 11th to September 2nd.
Opening reception: Friday, May 26, 6-8pm
"Figure 8: New Works by Lance Letscher" at TAI Modern in Santa Fe from May 26, 2023–June 24, 2023, is a solo exhibition by renowned collage artist, Lance Letscher.
Letscher’s world is one filled with color and detail, allowing the viewer to enter a piece and stay a while. As Erin Keever, writer from Austin, Texas, notes, “These collages demand intense and prolonged looking.”
Inspired by Elliot Smith’s album of the same name, Figure 8 showcases the dense overlapping compositions and the witty and poetic juxtaposition of images that has become a signature in Letscher’s work.
The pieces in Figure 8 explore the artist’s ongoing interest in texture, color, and composition through ornithological and environmental imagery, inspired by a trip to the Texas coast. In discussing his recent work, Letscher said, “I’ve really tried to knuckle down and make the cutting more expressive and more intricate.”
Opening reception: Friday, May 26, 2023, 5-7pm.
In 2017, Letscher was the subject of an illuminating documentary chronicling his life and studio practice called “The Secret Life of Lance Letscher,” directed by Sandra Adair. TAI Modern will host a free screening of this documentary at the Violet Crown Santa Fe, on Thursday, May 25, 6 – 7:30pm, and will be followed by a Q&A with both Adair and Letscher.
May 22, 2023
Wu Hufan (1894-1968), Monastery in the Autumn Mountains, 1950. Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper 40 5/8 x 22 3/4 in (103.19 x 57.79 cm.) Lent to the Denver Art Museum by Robert and Lisa Kessler
The second rotation of Fantastic Brush: Twentieth-Century Chinese Ink Art from the Robert and Lisa Kessler Collection is now on view.
The 23 ink paintings featured in the exhibition are lent by the Denver-based collectors Mr. and Mrs. Kessler. Works on view showcase some of the most important artists in twentieth-century China, including Zhang Daqian, Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Wu Changshuo, and Wu Guanzhong. Some traveled to Europe or to Japan to study Japanese and Western art, and others never went abroad. All were well versed in traditional Chinese ink art and found their own unique interpretation of what it means to produce ink art in the twentieth century.
After 1949 and the establishment of the communist government some artists left mainland China, moving to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and elsewhere. For those who stayed on the mainland, their art and lives were significantly altered by the political climate and reflected their response to the larger socioeconomic seismic shifts they witnessed during their lifetime.