Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions highlights works by over 30 contemporary artists of Chinese descent who reinterpret traditions in dynamic and innovative ways. Across painting, sculpture, and photography, these works were created by both established and emerging artists of different generations who use experimentation to draw on both Eastern and Western art-making practices and materials. They push boundaries that manipulate traditional materials and develop unique fabrication processes.
The artworks focus on experimental ink painting, calligraphy, deconstructed language, landscapes (real and imaginary), cityscapes, and celestial patterns. Landscapes borrow from time-honored imagery, but the artists in this exhibition subvert their visual language and meaning. They respond to our present-day concerns about urbanization, the fragmentation of landscapes created by the degradation of the environment, and the rapid pace of China’s modernization, among other urgent issues. Ultimately, these artists summon memories of the past to move beyond its specter, forging new artistic ground on which to build.
Admission is free for members, $5 for students and seniors with I.D., and $8 for nonmembers.
When planning your visit, please consider purchasing or reserving admission in advance to view the exhibition. We welcome walk-up visitors.
Purchase or Reserve Your Admission
Hours
Wednesday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Photography
Photography without flash is permitted.
Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions features the work of 32 artists of Chinese descent. This exhibition creates an intergenerational dialogue between some of the most important figures in contemporary Chinese art, as well as emerging talents in the field.
Bingyi
Chu Chu
Cui Fei
Fu Xiaotong
Fung Ming Chip
Hong Hao
Hong Lei
Irene Zhou
Jennifer Wen Ma
Kelly Wang
Lin Guocheng
Liu Dan
Liu Wei
Liu Xiaodong
Lü Shoukun
Peng Wei
Qiu Anxiong
Ren Pan
Sun Xun
Tao Aimin
Wang Fangyu
Wang Tiande
Wu Chi-Tsung
Xu Bing
Yang Yongliang
Yun-Fei Ji
Zhan Wang
Zhang Dali
Zhang Hongtu
Zhang Jian-Jun
Zheng Chongbin
Zheng Lu
About the Curator
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.
Opening Reception
Friday, February 10, 2023
5:30–8 p.m.
Art Tour
Saturday, May 6, 2023
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Symposium
Friday, May 19, 2023
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Art Tour
Saturday, May 20, 2023
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Members-Only Reception and Tour
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
6–7:30 p.m.
- For high-resolution images, please email Stephanie Todd-Wong, Director of Communications and Audience Engagement: STWong@AsiaSociety.org
- To download a PDF copy of this release, please click here
HOUSTON, February 3, 2023 — Asia Society Texas (AST) announces the opening of the powerful new contemporary art exhibition, Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, featuring the work of 32 artists of Chinese descent. Curated exclusively for Asia Society Texas, this exhibition showcases an exhilarating mix of well-known and emerging artists, and creates a dynamic intergenerational dialogue steeped in memory and diverse perspectives. Summoning Memories will be on view from Friday, February 10, through Sunday, July 2. Admission is free for members, $5 for students and seniors with I.D., and $8 for nonmembers.
Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions highlights stunning works by contemporary artists who reinterpret traditions in dynamic and innovative ways. Across painting, sculpture, and photography, these works by established and emerging artists of different generations use experimentation to draw on both Eastern and Western art-making practices and materials. According to guest curator Dr. Susan L. Beningson, “In Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, artists move ‘beyond the brush’ to create a dialogue — not only with different artistic, social, historical, and literary traditions, but also between some of the most important living artists of Chinese descent and the next generation of emerging talent.”
In addition to new works created specifically for this exhibition by Zhang Jian-Jun and Yang Yongliang, a few of the exciting pieces on view are:
- Xu Bing's famous handscroll How to Do Square Word Calligraphy as well as his Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler Yeats, both of which demonstrate his system for organizing English words into structures that resemble Chinese characters.
- Kelly Wang's Entanglement in which she weaves newspapers — collected outside her father’s apartment while he was in the hospital fighting COVID-19 — into a scholar's rock.
- Yun-fei Ji’s original hand scroll of the Three Gorges Dam Migration. Painted in a classical Chinese landscape style, this piece depicts the problematic migration and destruction forced by the creation of the dam.
"Yun-Fei Ji's epic Three Gorges Dam Migration handscroll is a 21st-century masterpiece. It's an honor to display this ten-foot saga about migration and loss, and we are honored to highlight the original, rarely exhibited painting," states Owen Duffy, Nancy C. Allen Curator and Director of Exhibitions at AST.
The artists featured in this show push boundaries, manipulating traditional materials, and developing unique fabrication processes that result in experimental ink painting, calligraphy, and deconstructed language, on both real and imaginary landscapes, cityscapes, and celestial patterns. While landscapes borrow from time-honored imagery, the artists in this exhibition subvert their visual language and meaning, responding to our present-day concerns about urbanization, the fragmentation of landscapes created by the degradation of the environment, and the rapid pace of China’s modernization, among other urgent issues. Ultimately, these artists summon memories of the past to move beyond its specter, forging new artistic ground on which to build.
Fast Facts
- Dates: Friday, February 10, 2023 – Sunday, July 2, 2023
- Admission: Free for members, $5 for students and seniors with I.D., and $8 for nonmembers
- Hours: Wednesday–Friday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
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.
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
Lead Sponsor
The Clayton Fund
Program Sponsors
Additional Support for Summoning Memories
