Schedule

Saturday, April 20, 2024
1 p.m. Tour

Experience art on a personal level! Join a docent-led tour of Xu Bing: Word Alchemy, which charts the evolution of artist Xu Bing's linguistic experiments challenging and expanding the history of Chinese landscape painting as well as the canons of contemporary art.

About the Exhibition

Xu Bing: Word Alchemy assembles more than 50 of Xu Bing’s most important woodcut prints, videos, drawings, installations, and other ephemera representing almost 50 years of the artist’s creative output. Starting with Xu’s early engagements with social realism and Western art historical traditions alike, the exhibition charts the evolution of the artist’s linguistic experiments which challenge and expand not only the history of Chinese landscape painting, but the canons of contemporary art.

Born in China and working in Brooklyn and Beijing, Xu Bing is widely considered one of the most important artists from China in the 20th century. Focusing on the artist's longstanding engagement with words and language, Word Alchemy is the most comprehensive exhibition on this theme, with around one-third of the objects being shown in the U.S. for the first time. Featured art works include Xu Bing's early works, never-before-exhibited notebooks, landmark prints, and pieces that include Square Word Calligraphy, the writing system created by the artist to stylize written English as Chinese characters.

Tour Tips

Please arrive 15 minutes before your tour. Groups arriving more than 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time should remain in our Grand Hall until tour staff and docents are ready. Latecomers may join the tour in progress.

Tours last approximately 60 minutes and involve a minimal amount of walking. Wheelchair access is available throughout the building.

Photography is permitted. Flash photography and use of tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed.

Plan Your Visit

Education and Outreach programs at Asia Society Texas are presented by AARP. Generous funding also provided by Asia Chemical Corporation, and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas). Free Thursday exhibition admission presented by Regions Bank. Additional support is provided by Cathay Bank Foundation, the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation, and the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional programming and exhibitions to Asia Society Texas.

 Presenting Sponsor

Additional Support

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.