About Town: Hiroshi Sugimoto

Here at the Asian Art Museum we are getting excited about our spring show, Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past. One of the artists featured in the show will be Hiroshi Sugimoto, who recently opened Photogenic Drawings at the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco (until February 25).

The works on view at the Fraenkel are very different from the pieces we will have in Phantoms, so if you’re in the Bay Area the next few months offer a great opportunity to get to know Sugimoto’s work.

And if you want to get to know the artist as well, Art21 has some great videos and other information. In this one, Sugimoto takes us on a guided tour of his “cabinet of curiosities.”

Making the Connection: from Maharaja to Manjusha

Bay Area jewelry designer Jyotsna Singh is the granddaughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, whose extraordinary Cartier necklace is one of the stand-out pieces in our exhibition, Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts. We’re thrilled to be able to cement the family connection by offering some of Jyotsna’s Manjusha jewelry line in our store.

Manjusha, which means a treasure chest of jewels, presents collections of unique fusion jewelry that combine the majesty of the old with the intensity of the new.  Inspired by the beauty of royal Jadau designs, Jyotsna’s jewelry is reminiscent of a bygone era of royal palaces and princely extravagance.

Here, Jyotsna talks about her special relationship with jewelry and the experience of seeing her grandfather’s necklace for the first time.

Bye bye Buncheong

Translated Vase, Yee Sookyung, 2007. Courtesy the artist.

This weekend our Korean ceramic exhibition, Poetry in Clay, is leaving us.

If you haven’t had a chance to explore this showcase of buncheong ceramics, you’d better hurry in. Even if you have seen it, I’ve found it’s an exhibition worthy of a second look.

While some people, like our marketing manager Jenn, immediately connect with the beauty of these pieces, for others (myself included) it’s a slower process. My co-worker Amelia came to appreciate the works through the class narrative that forms part of the context of the exhibition. For me, the way in was through the contemporary works, especially the vessels made from soap. That’s right, soap. I’m not giving you a sneak preview; you’ll have to come see them for yourself.

Luckily, some of the contemporary pieces (such as the Translated Vase, pictured) will remain on view in the loggia until April, but the juxtaposition of old and new is central to this show, so to get the full experience you’ll need to join us this weekend – perhaps on our Target First Free Sunday on January 8. Hope to see you there.

A Holiday Message from Director Jay Xu

We have much to be thankful for this past year. We began 2011 showcasing two superb exhibitions—Beyond Golden Clouds: Five Centuries of Japanese Screens, followed by the critically acclaimed Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance.

Museum Director Jay Xu and Associate Head of Conservation Mark Fenn examine the Asian Art Museum's bronze rhinoceros.

In the fall we unveiled our new brand, promising to awaken the past and inspire the next for visitors. And we opened three wonderfully diverse exhibitions fulfilling that promise: Korean Buncheong Ceramics from the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Korea, Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts, and Deities, Demons, and Dudes with ‘Stashes: Indian Avatars by Sanjay Patel. These exhibitions show traditional and contemporary artworks side by side – literally in the case of Buncheong ceramics, and thematically with Sanjay’s show giving us a contemporary interpretation of themes also explored in Maharaja.

In addition to presenting compelling art, we offer interactive programs for the family, scholarly lectures and presentations, films, art activities, publications, and performances that you cannot find anywhere else in the Bay Area. We also provide unique educational programs to thousands of school children, and we continue to protect and conserve the artworks in our collection for future generations to discover.

Without the generosity of our donors and supporters, none of this would be possible. So, this season, consider making an end of year donation to the Asian Art Museum. Your gift makes a big difference to us. Along with knowing that your contribution allows thousands of others to enjoy the museum’s offerings, you can also enjoy the benefits of a tax deduction or match your gift with your employer’s matching gift program to increase your support.

I wish you a healthy and happy holiday season and thank you for all your continued interest and support.

Warm regards,
Jay Xu,
Museum Director

Bali, the Final Post

For museum visitors, the exhibition Bali: Art, Performance, Ritual closed on September 11, more than two months ago. But for me, the Bali exhibition has only recently truly ended. As the registrar charged with ensuring the safe travel of the exhibition objects, I can’t call my job done until the last object has been safely returned home.

Objects from Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance are deinstalled following the close of the exhibition.

Most of the objects in Bali were borrowed from lenders in the Netherlands. Returning these works was therefore quite a journey.

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Jeepers Creepers, Where’d You Get Those…

A journalist asked us today about the enamel eyes sported by our Vishnu and Lakshmi sculpture in Sanjay Patel’s Deities, Demons and Dudes with ‘Staches.

One of our conservators with some ready-made enamel eyes.

This sculpture was originally intended to have eyes like these. There are carved depressions in the stone for them, as you can see from the picture below. We don’t know whether the sculpture never got its eyes, or lost them at some point.  Years ago we made a mold of the eye depressions, and I gave the mold to an artisan in India who makes such eyes. The artisan then created a pair for us from enameled metal, as is traditional.

Vishnu and Lakshmi in their former, eyeless state.

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Sanjay Patel in Conversation

Sanjay Patel’s show is almost ready – it opens this Friday, November 11. I peeked in today and it looks amazing. I can’t wait for the full experience!

We wanted to share this clip of Sanjay discussing India and identity with some of our Asian Art Museum Art Speak interns. His appearance in conversation with Maharaja curator Qamar Adamjee on November 12 promises to be an insightful and entertaining discussion.

Our YouTube channel has more of the students’ interview with Sanjay. The talk on Saturday, November 12 is free with museum admission.

Be the Match: Marrow Registration at the Museum

This weekend the museum is hosting  a special event at our Target Free Sunday. Be The Match Marrow Registry, a nonprofit organization that matches patients with unrelated bone marrow donors, will be conducting registrations at the museum—complete with cheek cell swabbing!

Why? Great question. Be The Match approached the museum because they have a shortage of South Asian donors in their registry. Bay Area entrepreneur Amit Gupta shared his experience:

Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor because I’d been feeling worn out and was losing weight, and wasn’t sure why. He was brief: “Amit, you’ve got acute leukemia. You need to enter treatment right away.” I have a couple more months of chemo to go, and then the next step is a bone marrow transplant. Minorities are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow pool, and I need help.

With the Maharaja exhibition in full swing and Sanjay Patel’s show opening next week, the museum is quite a hub for South Asian cultural happenings right now. Be The Match thought it would be a great opportunity to reach out to the South Asian community, and we agreed.

Volunteers from Be The Match will be at the museum from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm this Sunday, November 6. No matter what your background, Be The Match would be grateful for your participation! For more information on what’s involved, check out Be The Match’s ‘Understanding your Commitment’ page.

Remember, admission to the museum this Sunday is free, so come see some art, and maybe save a life as well.

Behind the Scenes: Sanjay Patel’s sketches

Anyone who has been in to the museum lately will have noticed Sanjay Patel’s arresting sketches in South Court. Today Sanjay sent us this wonderful image that gives an insight into the process of creating a work on this scale.

I have always had a rule in museums: look up! These images give you one more reason to do that.

If you like to glimpse behind the scenes, check out these videos from the preparation for the Maharaja exhibit.

Deities, Demons and Dudes with ‘Staches: Indian Avatars by Sanjay Patel opens on November 11. Sanjay will be appearing in conversation with curator Qamar Adamjee on November 12.

Here/Not Here will not be here much longer

With all the excitement about Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts opening at the museum, it’s easy to miss another gem of an exhibition closing soon. This weekend is the last change to view  Here/Not Here: Buddha Presence in Eight Recent Works, on view in the Tateuchi Thematic Gallery.

Here/Not Here: Buddha Presence in Eight Recent Works

Be sure to take some time to enjoy the works of Jakkai Siributr, Sopheap Pich, and Pinaree Sanpitak before they leave the museum. Their last day on view is October 23.

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