As one of this country's established leaders in supporting and presenting contemporary Asian art, the Asia Society and Museum has commissioned eight major new works from nine Asian and Asian American artists as part of the renovation and expansion of its galleries and public spaces. The pieces were unveiled on November 17, at the opening of the Asia Society's redesigned world headquarters at 725 Park Avenue in New York. The works are long-term installations in the Society's public spaces, and include a large-scale wall mural, seating arrangements in the main lobby, a neon and water sculpture in the new Garden Court, and other installations throughout the building.

Artists selected for the commissions are Heri Dono, Yong Soon Min, Vong Phaophanit, Navin Rawanchaikul, Nilima Sheikh, Shahzia Sikander, Sarah Sze, Xu Bing and Xu Guodong. The Asia Society and Museum has chosen this exceptionally diverse group of artists to reflect the range of contemporary art being produced in Asia, and by artists of Asian descent. Many of the artists selected are already well known in the U.S.; for others the commission is their first introduction to a broad audience outside Asia. Five of the artists are men, four women; they come from Laos, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, China, Thailand, Korea, and Japan. All of them create contemporary pieces rather than working strictly within traditional Asian styles and media.

The artists were chosen by a three-member selection committee: Vishakha N. Desai, Senior Vice President of the Asia Society and Director of the Museum and Cultural Programs; Apinan Poshyananda, Professor of Art, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok; and David Elliott, recently appointed as the first director of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. Nicholas Platt, President of the Asia Society, and Bartholomew Voorsanger, the architect for the Asia Society redesign, played an advisory role in the selection.

"In the United States there is a tendency to see the pre-modern, traditional arts as the only authentic cultural expressions of Asians and Asian societies, and to devalue artistic forms of the 20th and 21st century that have been influenced by the West as somehow "impure" or derivative," said Ms. Desai. "In the last decade, the Asia Society has made significant progress in helping to change that perception. Commissioning these major pieces for our new facility is part of our ongoing commitment to foster a more inclusive way of looking at Asian arts and to reveal the tremendous dynamism of the Asian artists at work today."

At the Asia Society, Ms. Desai has inaugurated one of the most ambitious and diverse programs in the U.S. for the exhibition of contemporary art by Asian and Asian American artists. The commissions are further expression of the Society's mission to present the best of contemporary Asian art in the United States, and build on the success of the Society's pioneering exhibitions, Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tensions and Inside Out: New Chinese Art. Ms. Desai has published extensively on issues in contemporary Asian art, and has served as an advisor and juror for numerous international contemporary art projects.

Mr. Poshyananda is an internationally known art historian and art critic, and is an associate professor and Associate Director for Special Affairs, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Prior to being appointed director of the Mori Art Museum, Mr. Elliot served as the Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. He was one of the first museum directors to present works by contemporary Asian artists in Europe.

Funding

The arts commission is supported by a generous grant from the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation.

Asia Society Renovation and Redesign

The Asia Society was established to increase American understanding of the diverse cultures and societies of Asia, defined inclusively to encompass more than thirty nations in all parts of Asia. It is the only institution in North America addressing the intersection of art, economics, politics and society throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The role of the Asia Society in educating the American public on Asia is now more crucial than ever and programs focusing specifically on Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and India are important among its offerings. The Society's major renovation strengthens its role as one of the world's leading institutions fostering communication, awareness, and understanding between the peoples of North America and Asia.

New gallery spaces have significantly expanded the number and range of exhibitions the Asia Society and Museum is able to present, while a redesigned entrance lobby on Park Avenue and public spaces on the first floor create a gracious and engaging space for visitors to learn and contemplate. An innovative new media information system and a new Visitor Center enable visitors to access an extensive database of information about Asian culture, society, and events around the world, as well as to learn more about the Society's programming and exhibitions. A glass-enclosed, sky-lit Garden Court floods the lobby with light and has art installations, flowering vines and trees, and a café. The Garden Court also serves as a venue for informal performances, readings, discussions with artists, and other special events. Additional public spaces on the Society's second and third floors, as well as the upgrading of existing conference and performance facilities, provide a greater opportunity to present the different voices and perspectives of Asians and Asian Americans.

Artist Profiles and Proposed Works

Heri Dono (Born, lives, and works in Indonesia)

For the Asia Society, Mr. Dono has created an installation in the newly-designed Garden Court that consists of three flying angels inside specially constructed cocoons.

Well-known in South East Asia and Australia, Mr. Dono is considered one of the most significant Indonesian artists active today. His works include major installations in stone as well as simple electronic gadgets, which subtly and poignantly critique the political conditions of his country. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in Jakarta, Tokyo, Oxford, and Sweden, and his work has been included in the 23rd Sao Paolo Biennale and the Asia Pacific Triennale in Australia. He was awarded the Prince Klaus Award as an outstanding artist in 1998. He was trained in both western modern art and in the Indonesian art of puppetry (Wayan Kulit).

Yong Soon Min (Born in Korea, lives and works in Los Angeles)

Her new work for the Asia Society consists of records of Asian and Asian American music that also serve as clocks set against a large mirror. These clocks refer to the temporality of performance as the work is located outside the auditorium.

Ms. Yong is known in California and New York for her politically charged and poetically rendered installations that explore the division of the Korean peninsula and the inner life of the expatriate. Ms. Yong's work was featured in the "Bridge of No Return" exhibition at Art in General in New York in 1998, and has been widely shown in England, Canada, the Philippines, South Korea, and the U.S. She has received a variety of awards, including the Bellagio residency from the Rockefeller Foundation, and been awarded major public art commissions in Los Angeles and Seattle. She received her MFA from UC Berkeley and is an Associate Professor of Art at U.C. Davis.

Navin Rawanchaikul (Born in Thailand, lives and works in Japan and Thailand)

For the Asia Society, Mr. Rawanchaikul has created a tuk tuk, a local Thai taxi with tales of tuk tuk drivers painted onto its ceiling.

Mr. Rawanchaikul's work combines photography and installation to explore urban transportation and community activism. His elaborate collaborative projects have included a work created with the drivers of the small, three-wheeled Tuk-Tuks that Thais use to negotiate dense rush hour traffic. He is currently developing a project for P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York based on New York City taxis. He is also developing a line of furniture inspired by Asian modes of urban transportation. His solo exhibitions have been seen in Japan, Canada, and Thailand, and he has participated in the Sydney, Sao Paulo, Kwangji Biennales.

Shahzia Sikander (Born in Pakistan, currently living and working in New York)

Ms. Sikander has collaborated with Nilima Sheikh (see below) on a large-scale banner for the Asia Society.

Ms. Sikander is a Pakistan-born artist who has been living and working in the U.S. for the past decade; she trained in Lahore, Pakistan, and at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her works explore the role of women in South Asian societies and draw on Indian miniature painting, pushing the boundaries of both style and tradition. Her work began to be recognized in the U.S. in the mid-1990s and was included in the Whitney Biennial of 1998.

Nilima Sheikh (Born and currently living and working in India)

Ms. Shiekh has collaborated with Shahzia Sikander (see above) on a large-scale scroll for the Asia Society.

While relatively unknown in the U.S., Ms. Sheikh is considered one of the most prominent women artists active in India today. She was trained at the prestigious University of Baroda under the tutelage of one of the leading 20th century artists of India, K.G. Subramaniam. In the early 1980s, she began to explore an intimate style of painting based on Indian miniatures. She creates both small works using this intimate technique as well as room-size panel installations.

Sarah Sze (Born in Boston, Chinese American, lives and works in New York)

Ms. Sze's site-specific installation nestled in a corner utilizes everyday, mostly household, materials to create strange environments that play with a sense of scale.

Ms. Sze, known for her delicate installations created from ordinary objects, is preparing for three solo exhibitions in 2001, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as at the Israel Museum and Bard College. Her work was featured in the 2000 Whitney Biennial, the 1999 Venice Biennale, the 1999 Carnegie International, and the 1998 Berlin Biennial, as well as in recent exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York.

Vong Phaophanit (Born in Laos, lives and works in England)

Vong Phaophanit's commission for the Asia Society is installed in the new Garden Court and uses neon light dipped in wax spelling out Latin words for Asian plants.

Born in Laos and trained in Paris, Vong Phaophanit's work combines Lao script formed in neon with organic materials such as bamboo and rice. His work has been widely exhibited in Europe, and in 1993 he was nominated for a Turner Prize. His recent solo exhibition "Atopia," was presented at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 1998. He is currently collaborating with Richard Wentworth and Mark Dion on an outdoor public sculpture project at Jesus College, Cambridge.

Xu GuoDong (Born in China, Lives in Shanghai)

Xu Guodong has created a special garden rock for the new garden Court of the Asia Society. This rock refers to the tradition of garden rocks in China.

Xu Guodong was born in 1950 in Shanghai. His interest in traditional Chinese rocks came from his father Xu Zhiming, who was a well-known hard stonelandscape artist and one of the founding committee members of the Shanghai Potted Landscape Association. Xu Zhiming assessed rocks according to the following qualities: wen (grain), li (texture), qi (energy), shi (momentum), and tai (form). Xu built upon his father's theories by carving rocks and enhancing their natural qualities. Xu's rock sculptures have been awarded numerous accolades and prizes in Mainland China. In 1991, he received the "Outstanding Award" in the first Chinese Unique Rock Exhibition staged by the Shanghai Stone Connoisseurs Association. In 1993, Xu participated in the first Chinese Celebrities and Ornamental Masterpiece Rock Exhibition in Shanghai, and his work Yu Li ("Standing Gracefully") was awarded the Second Prize.

Xu Bing (Born in China, lives and works in New York)

Xu Bing has created an installation in the stairwell made up of digital screens showing letters that morph between English and Xu's own invented Chinglish, cheekily asking viewers directions on how to get to the Asia Society.

Performance artist and calligrapher Xu Bing is considered a leading figure of the Chinese avant-garde art movement. He recently received a MacArthur "genius" award and has exhibited his works at major art galleries and museums in New York, Japan, Australia, Germany, Mexico, and Canada. Born in China, he left shortly after the Tiananmen Square incident to take up residence in New York. Xu Bing is known for provocative and beautiful pieces that explore scripts, texts, and language systems. His work is deeply influenced by traditional Chinese calligraphy, out of which he creates exquisite characters totally of his own design.

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