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Asian art

Curator's Corner

A Visual Tribute to Labor Day Week 2022

Monday, September 5, 2022 | Karl Cole

Aside from the myth of Sunday as a “day of rest” in the West, it’s interesting to me that there is only one day a year that celebrates “labor” in the U.S. The movement to ...

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Curator's Corner

Rain, Rain Go Away?: Tanya Goel

Monday, August 29, 2022 | Karl Cole

Some parts of the U.S. are experiencing too much rain, while others are in drought situations (as we are in Massachusetts). Well, the extremely hot weather worldwide, linked with the combined bamboozl ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Wang Zhen

Monday, July 25, 2022 | Karl Cole

This beautiful still life is representative of a period in Chinese art when Chinese artists began to be influenced by elements of Western art, before the Communist government was established. Man ...

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Curator's Corner

Disability Pride Month 2022: Yayoi Kusama

Monday, July 18, 2022 | Karl Cole

During her long and distinguished artistic career, artist Yayoi Kusama has explored painting, sculpture, conceptual art, performance art, and installation with sound. She has created a truly unique ae ...

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Curator's Corner

AAPI Heritage Month 2022: I. M. Pei

Monday, May 16, 2022 | Karl Cole

I. M. (Ieoh Ming) Pei was a pioneering American architect renowned in the International Style. He conceived of many of his building designs as a form of sculpture. ...

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Curator's Corner

AAPI Heritage Month: Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Monday, May 9, 2022 | Karl Cole

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month continues with the work of Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Kuniyoshi applied modernist compositional principles to works that are solidly grounded in the object. Hi ...

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Curator's Corner

End of the Ming Dynasty in China

Monday, April 25, 2022 | Karl Cole

This day in history, April 25, 1644, marked the end of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) in China with the death of Chongzhen Emperor (1611–1644). Although the Ming period was turbulent po ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Oki Sato

Monday, April 18, 2022 | Karl Cole

It’s always refreshing to learn about a designer who combines an unconventional aesthetic with concern for our climate-changing planet, so Oki Sato’s Cabbage Chair is my Gem of the Month. ...

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Curator's Corner

World Landscape Architecture Month: Nanzen-ji

Monday, April 4, 2022 | Karl Cole

The landscaping and gardens at Nanzen-ji certainly could be considered an outdoor sculptural installation. As landscape architecture, the garden of this extraordinarily peaceful place in Kyoto approac ...

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Curator's Corner

Muthanna: Calligraphic Mirror Writing

Monday, January 31, 2022 | Karl Cole

I’m celebrating two national days today with this beautiful calligraphy—National Backward Day and National Inspire your Heart with Art Day. What better way than with an image of calligraph ...

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Curator's Corner

Possibilities of Paper: Kim Hyung Joo

Monday, January 24, 2022 | Karl Cole

Contemporary interdisciplinary artist Kim Hyung Joo explores Korean culture in her artworks, including through papermaking and fiber arts. Means of communicating culture, such as traditional clothing ...

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Curator's Corner

Peace for the New Year

Monday, January 3, 2022 | Karl Cole

The last couple of years have been rather stressful for all of us, I would imagine, what with the pandemic and all its consequences. When I’m stressed out, I tend to want to look at art; the mor ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Hashimoto Gahō

Monday, October 25, 2021 | Karl Cole

I have such an admiration for Japanese monochromatic painting that I decided to celebrate the firm establishment of autumn with one of my favorite nihon-ga artists, who was also featured for his winte ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Kim Bong-Ryong

Monday, August 30, 2021 | Karl Cole

I have long held a big “Wow!” for lacquer in East Asian arts. That was especially true when I recently came upon this piece, which is why I'm featuring it as my Gem of the Month. It is suc ...

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Curator's Corner

Romance Awareness Month: Suzuki Harunobu, Etruria, Safavid

Monday, August 16, 2021 | Karl Cole

I was not aware of the association of romance with the month of August, but I think it’s refreshing. On one website that explains national month days, it said that “February isn’t th ...

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Curator's Corner

How Art Looks at Age

Monday, August 9, 2021 | Karl Cole

Having made my weekly visit to my dear friend Alice in a senior residence—where she was committed by a state conservator—I began thinking about how society perceives older (and I refuse to ...

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