Opening Reception for 'Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions'

Schedule

Friday, February 10, 2023
5:30 p.m. Conversation with Artists
6:30–8 p.m. Reception and Gallery Opening

Join Asia Society Texas to celebrate the opening of our new exhibition Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions.

The show highlights work by over 30 contemporary artists of Chinese descent who reinterpret traditions in dynamic and innovative ways.

To celebrate the exhibition, join guest curator Dr. Susan L. Beningson for a conversation with featured artists Zheng Chongbin, Zhang Jian-Jun, Wu Chi-Tsung, Kelly Wang, and Bingyi. Discussing their art on view in the exhibition, the artists will guide the audience through their respective practices and a reflective conversation on the essential themes of Summoning Memories, including how each artist explores, changes, and subverts various aspects of Chinese art historical traditions to forge new artistic ground.

Following the conversation with the artists, enjoy a reception in our Water Garden Terrace and a special private viewing of Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions.

About the Moderator

Susan L. Beningson is an independent curator based in New York City. She is currently teaching at New York University. Her next project will be a special exhibition of contemporary Chinese experimental ink painting in conjunction with Art Basel Hong Kong (March 2023). In 2020-2021 she curated the exhibition We The People: Xu Bing and Sun Xun Respond to the Declaration of Independence as part of the Asia Society Triennial (New York). From 2013 through 2019 she served as curator, Asian Art, at the Brooklyn Museum. Her curatorial projects during this tenure included the exhibition One: Xu Bing and the reinstallation of the Arts of China galleries. She was a cocurator of the exhibition Infinite Blue and the reinstallation of the Arts of Korea galleries. Dr. Beningson was also responsible for the acquisition of more than fifty contemporary works of art for the Brooklyn Museum’s permanent Asian Art collection.

Previously, Dr. Beningson taught Asian and Islamic art history at the City University of New York, Rutgers University, and Columbia University and worked at Princeton University Art Museum. Her writings include contributions to Brooklyn Museum Highlights (2014), Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art (Asia Society Museum, 2010), and Providing for the Afterlife: “Brilliant Artifacts” from Shandong (China Institute, 2005), which accompanied an exhibition of the same title she co-organized in conjunction with the Shandong Provincial Museum. She has lectured and published widely on both contemporary and historical Asian art. Dr. Beningson received her PhD in Chinese art and archaeology from Columbia University.

Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions is curated by Susan L. Beningson, Ph.D., Independent Curator, with the support of Owen Duffy, Nancy C. Allen Curator and Director of Exhibitions, and Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar. This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Special support provided by Sundaram Tagore Gallery.

Exhibitions and their related programs at Asia Society Texas are presented by Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Leslie and Brad Bucher. Major support comes from The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Clayton Fund, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Wortham Foundation, Inc., Agnes Hsu-Tang, Ph.D. and Oscar L. Tang, and Ann Wales. Funding is also provided through contributions from the Exhibitions Patron Circle, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional visual art to Asia Society Texas.

Presenting Sponsors

Nancy C. Allen
Leslie and Brad Bucher
Chinhui Juhn and Edward Allen

Program Sponsors

Additional Support for Summoning Memories

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.