We’ve got new stuff, and we’re ready to show it off.
Everyone knows we have one of the largest and most impressive collections of Asian art in the Western world. But you might not know we’ve spent the last 15 years enriching that celebrated collection with outstanding contemporary art.
For the first time ever, we’re presenting a large-scale exhibition of contemporary highlights from the museum’s collection. These pieces are remarkable on their own, but they also activate the rest of the museum’s collection in compelling new ways, infusing traditional themes and mediums with present-day ideas.
The exhibition features artists from Asia as well as from the United States. Yako Hodo abstracts the traditional art of basket weaving, while works by Yang Yongliang and Xu Bing push Chinese ink painting into new media. First Look also features Bay Area favorites like Hung Liu and Zheng Chongbin. There’s something for everyone, so come take a “first look” and see what speaks to you.
View a 2003 KQED Spark profile of Li Huayi, an artist featured in First Look.
View a 2005 KQED Spark profile of Hung Liu, an artist featured in First Look.
Main image: Untitled, No. 25 (detail), 2008, by RongRong (Chinese, b. 1968) & inri (Japanese, b. 1973). Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Gift of Jack and Susy Wadsworth, 2013.15. © RongRong & inri. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
First Look: Collecting Contemporary at the Asian was organized by the Asian Art Museum.
Presentation is made possible with the generous support of The Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Fund for Excellence in Exhibitions and Presentations, China Guardian Auctions, and an anonymous donor.
