RED HOT — Asian Art Today
from the Chaney Family Collection
July 22 – October 21, 2007
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1001 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77005
713.639.7300
RED HOT — Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection, which opened July 22, 2007, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is a sweeping overview of the spectacular rise of Asian contemporary art. It introduces a series of exhibitions and gallery installations the MFAH will devote to Asian art over several years and provides Houston with its first major look at contemporary art from the region. An international phenomenon, literally “red hot” in its energy and rapid development, Asian art has redefined the parameters of today’s contemporary art scene. Drawn from the extraordinary holdings of Houston collectors Robert, Jereann, and Holland Chaney, many of the works have not been seen outside of their home countries. The exhibition runs through October 21.
The Chaney family has assembled one of this country’s foremost collections of the art and technology of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Among the collection’s strengths is its representation of today’s pre-eminent Asian artists. This body of over 120 works reflects the powerful economic shifts and social changes that have influenced a rapidly growing class of young artists, making the nations of East Asia leaders in contemporary art. With a commitment to the cutting-edge, the Chaney Family Collection embraces this radical and exuberant flowering in painting, sculpture, photography, video, and digital media.
The exhibition focuses on artists who emerged after the political and economic upheavals of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many artists of this generation were forced to find new homes abroad; the exhibition also traces how recent waves of migration have contributed to the globalization of Asian culture.
Dr. Peter C. Marzio, MFAH director, comments, “These works of art have been culled from Pop culture, politics, societal change, and technology in fascinating ways, and challenge us to regard the world afresh. They range from an unqualified optimism to a dystopian realism, expanding our visual vocabulary into the new century.”
Robert Chaney adds, “As major collectors of new contemporary art, we are constantly exposed to opportunities from around the world. We always focus our attention on the most fresh and innovative art movements we see, and Asia has clearly been the most important over the last few years.”
The exhibition opens with examples of new sculpture from China, including works by Chen Wenling, the Luo Brothers, and Sui Jianguo. This segment of the installation is complemented by a selection of other Chinese artists who have embraced Pop aesthetics, including Feng Zhengjie, Wang Guangyi, and Zhao Bo. Japanese Pop is introduced by Takashi Murakami’s Tongari-kun (Mr. Pointy) Costume, along with examples by Chiho Aoshima, Chinatsu Ban, Yoshitomo Nara, and Yumi Karasumaru. Portraiture is represented in the work of Yang Shaobin, Yue Minjun, Fang Lijun, and Zhang Huan, while the new urban landscape is the chief theme of artists Miao Xiaochun, Weng Fen, and Zhang Dali. Major installations by Korea’s Do-Ho Suh dominate two galleries, and works by Vietnamese-American artists Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba and Dinh Q. Le address the darker chapters of recent history.
Alison de Lima Greene, MFAH curator of contemporary art and special projects, and coordinating curator for the exhibition, states, “The Chaneys have achieved a remarkable feat. Their ambition, genuine curiosity, and ready understanding of new concepts and means of expression consistently animate their collection.”
RED HOT — Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Generous support is provided by Sotheby’s and Compass Bank Wealth Management Group.
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