Asian Abstractions/Global Contexts

NEW YORK, November 18, 2016 — Éric Lefebvre, director of the Musée Cernuschi in Paris, delivers the keynote address at the Asian Abstractions/Global Contexts symposium. This symposium considers the significant contributions of Zao Wou-Ki and other diasporic East Asian artists to the international abstraction movement during the middle of the 20th century. The event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition No Limits: Zao Wou-Ki and co-organized with Colby College Museum of Art. (44 min., 20 sec.)

NEW YORK, November 18, 2016 — Iftikhar Dadi, associate professor of art history at Cornell University, Shen Kuiyi, professor of art history, theory, and criticism at the University of California San Diego, and Robert E. Harrist Jr., professor of Chinese art at Columbia University, discuss the intermediality in Zao Wou-Ki and other diasporic East Asian artists' work during the middle of the 20th century. The panel is introduced by Ankeney Weitz, professor of art at Colby College and co-curator of the exhibition No Limits: Zao Wou-Ki. (59 min., 53 sec.)

NEW YORK, November 18, 2016 — Francesca Dal Lago, art historian and critic, Pepe Karmel, associate professor of art history at New York University, and Miwako Tezuka, co-founder of PoNJA-GenKon, discuss the geographic intersections found in Zao Wou-Ki and other diasporic East Asian artists' work during the middle of the 20th century. The panel is introduced by Melissa Walt, research associate at Colby College an co-curator of the exhibition No Limits: Zao Wou-Ki. (59 min., 53 sec.)

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition “No Limits: Zao Wou-Ki” and co-organized with Colby College Museum of Art, this symposium considers the significant contributions of Zao Wou-Ki and other diasporic East Asian artists to the international abstraction movement during the middle of the twentieth century. These artists lived and worked between two cultures and paved the way for the generation of East Asian artists active in the global art world today. Speakers will address a number of different issues related to East Asian culture in the work of these artists, including the role of East Asian ink painting and calligraphic traditions in abstract art, and the coalescence of Asian and western techniques within postwar painting. Keynote address by Eric Lefebvre, Director, Cernuschi Museum, Paris. Confirmed speakers include: Iftikhar Dadi, Associate Professor, History of Art, Cornell University; Francesca Dal Lago, art historian and critic; Robert E. Harrist Jr., Jane and Leopold Swergold Professor of Chinese Art, Columbia University; Pepe Karmel, Associate Professor of Art History New York University; Shen Kuiyi, Professor, Art History, Theory, & Criticism, University of California, San Diego and Miwako Tezuka, Co-Founder, 

Followed by a reception.

Part of Asia Contemporary Art Week.

2:30-6:00 pm Symposium
6:00-8:00 pm Reception
6:00-9:00 pm Galleries open for exhibition viewing 

Co-organized with Colby College Museum of Art.