“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” brings together seventeen artists from across the country who challenge and extend the category of Asian American art. The title of the exhibition, inspired by the 1970s Blondie hit, suggests that there has never been a formulaic way of making or seeing art, either back then or now. Instead, these artists initiate a new set of conversations that highlight the multidimensional ways of conceptualizing and producing art today.

Ala Ebtekar, Elemental, 2004, mixed media, collection of the artist.

The selected artists came of age in various parts of the United States during the late 1970s and 1980s. They have at their disposal a wide array of art historical practices, popular culture references, and local influences. What characterizes much of their art, as distinguished from the work of previous generations, is a freedom to choose, manipulate, and reinvent different kinds of languages and issues, whether formal, conceptual, or political. The works in the exhibition, many of them made especially for this show, reflect this energy. Together, the artists and their work defy a definitive conception of Asian American art in favor of working—one way or another.

This show is curated by Melissa Chiu, Director and Curator of Contemporary Asian Art at the Asia Society Museum, Karin Higa, Senior Curator of Art at the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, and Susette S. Min, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies and Art History at the University of California, Davis.

Exhibition: One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now
Date: September 7 - December 10, 2006
Location: Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue, New York
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm, with extended evening hours Fridays until 9:00 pm. Closed on Mondays and major holidays.
Cost: Included with museum admission. $10 adults; $7 seniors citizens; $5 students with ID. Free for members and persons under 16.
Phone: 212-517-ASIA

Web credit: Text on website written by Kristy Philips with the exception of the artists’ statements.

Catalogue of the exhibition, One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now, is available in the Asia Society Bookstore.

Edited by Melissa Chiu, Karin Higa, and Susette S. Min, with contributions by Margo Machida and Helen Zia. This creatively designed book focuses on recent works by seventeen Asian American artists born in the late 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, to explore this pivotal generation of artists, the prevalent themes in their art, and the different ways they configure a sense of self in their work. Distributed by Yale University Press for the Asia Society 146 color and 7 black-and-white illustrations.

This exhibition is made possible with generous support from our lead sponsor Altria Group, Inc. Additional support for the exhibition is provided by the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation, Nimoy Foundation, and Asia Society’s Contemporary Art Council.

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