Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions, Tensions

Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tensions, the catalogue of a traveling exhibition organized by the Asia Society Galleries, New York City, features the work of 27 artists from five countries.Focusing on India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand, this book gives a transnational assessment of a broad theme in art from five countries chosen to represent different mixes of history and postmodernity. As the subtitle Traditions/Tensions suggest, the art deals with the old and the new, the supposed opposites of the traditional and the contemporary, and how individual artists in Asia today accept, integrate, and/or reject them. Key themes include politics, religion, the environment, and women's issues.The text comprises seven essays, with Apinan Poshyananda, an internationally renowned expert on contemporary Asian art and curator of the exhibition, providing a general overview. Five essays by recognized critics discuss current issues in the five countries: Geeta Kapur writes on India, Jim Supangkat on Indonesia, Marian Pastor Roces on the Philippines, Jae-Ryung Roe on South Korea, and Apinan Poshyananda on Thailand. Thomas McEvilley gives a view from North America. Biographies of the artists, chronologies of recent events in the five countries, and a bibliography round out the picture, making this volume a valuable resource for collectors, scholars, and students of contemporary art.