Artists & Identity

Artist Kwangwoo Bae demonstrates the process of making Korean mother-of-pearl lacquerware.

Discover how two artists seeking a new direction for modern art in the aftermath of World War II found inspiration in Japanese tradition. Trace the friendship, work, ideas and mutual influence of Isamu Noguchi and Saburo Hasegawa, who both sought to balance tradition and modernity, Japanese culture and foreign influences, past and present.

Students will: 1.) examine the Hindu tradition of threshold art; 2.) discuss how Indian values are expressed in the ephemeral art of threshold painting; 3.) draw traditional connect-the-dots threshold art designs; 4.) make colored rice flour and create an auspicious floor painting

Magnolia and quince, from the Flowers of the Twelve Months: March, approx. 1670-1710, by Yun Bing (1670-1710). China; Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). The Avery Brundage Collection, B65D49.d.

Asian Art Museum Art Speak interns have a conversation with artist and animator Sanjay Patel.

Students will: 1.) Observe and discuss how artist Santiago Bose uses cultural symbols and artistic methods as post-colonial critique. 2.) Create an assemblage using found objects that conveys their personal identities. 3.) Interview a family member to uncover a photograph or symbol that recalls their heritage and include this in their assemblages. 4.) Write a first person narrative telling a story about their assemblages.

Born in Hong Kong and raised in Nigeria and Ontario, Howie Tsui’s influences include ghost stories, Buddhist hell scrolls, Japanese monster culture, and Hong Kong vampire films. As part of his Horror Fables series, Tsui contributes to Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past (on view at the Asian Art Museum from May 18-September 2, 2012) intricately drawn human-monster hybrids that combine imagery from traditional Asian folklore with contemporary pop culture.

Search Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) for oral histories, letters, diaries, photographs, newspapers and other records.

Flowers and Birds of the Twelve Months, one of a pair (1703), by Yamamoto Soken (1683-1706). Japan. Six panel folding screen; Ink and colors on silk. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60D82+.1.

Farmers working and resting, 1955, by Fernando Amorsolo (Filipino, 1892 – 1972), Oil on canvas, Gift of Alexander and Cornelia Calhoun, 2005.99. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.