Contemporary Asian Art in the Twenty-First Century

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Contemporary Asian Art History

Studies show that Asia started creating contemporary or modern art in the 1980s. This aspect indicates that the exhibitions of Asian arts have lagged compared to other countries, which started art exhibitions as early as the 1870s. Research on how Asian arts were acquired and exhibited indicates that items like biennials have experienced an upsurge worldwide since the 1990s (Chua, 2014). This aspect shows how such an upsurge foregrounded the development of new and inventive mods of displaying modern art, which was presumed to put such art in shadow. The process shows that the exhibition of contemporary art in Asia experienced a lag of modernism which had a significant impact on the delay in the development of art exhibitions.

Contemporary Asian Art Exhibition

The development of curatorial products generated twists, turns, trials, and tensions that catalyzed the exhibition of Asian and Southeast Asian contemporary (Chua, 2014). Such processes are presumed to influence the development of new ideas from the curators, artists, editors, and educators who used such ideas to push for the advancement of modern exhibitions, which are not limited to a mere container of objects. On the contrary, the use of such exhibitions aimed at developing narratives that were open-minded (Chua, 2014). However, despite such advancements, the collection and exhibition of Asian and Southeast Asian arts are presumed to experience numerous challenges that create barriers to the effective presentation of contemporary art in Asia.

Historiography of Southeast Asian Contemporary Art

Studies on Asian contemporary art show that it gained relevance in the past two decades. The market for such arts is attributed to the emergence of promising emergent market for investors (Teh, 2020). The lack of dedicated academic structures dealing in the history of the region has not succeeded in the interpretation and historicizing the art making it unfamiliar (Teh, 2020). In addition, the existing history show that the disconnect between the regionalist pioneers and the current nationalists significantly influence the market for contemporary art.

Reasons for Contemporary Art Exhibition

The development of exhibition for contemporary Asian art sought to locate distinctive arts that portrayed modernism in the region. The exhibitions also wanted to privilege the uptake of Asian art in the global market (Chua, 2014). collection of paintings about the war in Asia was considered critical for the development of advanced history of the region during the war (Chua, 2014). In addition, the arts were used to reflect on the aspects that were real during the war in the different parts of the region.

Challenges that Faced Exhibition of Contemporary Asian Art

The development of Asian exhibitions experienced numerous challenges, which made them lack originality. Among the issues the exhibitors experienced was the confusion linked to the theory to apply as they found themselves at a crossroads between utilizing the mimetic theory of art and the stylistic attitude of realism (Chua, 2014). It was due to this reason that the exhibitors experienced the collapse of social realism to optical realism, which was inadequate in the understanding of reality. In addition, the Asian exhibitions had a cliché of the west which they used as a foundation to set their art going (Teh, 2020). Such aspects challenged the originality of the content exhibited, where their art was considered simplification.

Issues Raised by Authors About Asian Exhibitions

An analysis of the variables that significantly influenced the development and success of the exhibition of contemporary Asian arts shows that the continent spends more on understanding realism’s epistemology. The continent needed to be more conceptualized as it was in the western countries where the artists organized different salons where they would exhibit their art (Chua, 2014). In Asia, the lack of convenient space for the orientation of such arts was another issue that the authors raised, as the exhibition required sufficient spaces where different artists would showcase their works. The issue of originality among Asian artists was another critical issue due to the influence of western arts (Chua, 2014). Western cultures influenced the AS in that they could not develop much of their original styles of art. Asians were also perceived to experience progressive infantilism, making them learn new skills that would make their art real (Chua, 2014). Idealistic politics led to the development of psychological blockage, anxiety, and trauma, which had significant impacts on the development of art and paintings.

Strategies Used for the Selection of Arts for Exhibition

The selection of the first 25 pieces of contemporary art presented in the National Art Gallery utilized various strategies to create a distinctive picture of modern Asia art. Realism was a factor that aimed to represent the culture and identity of Asians (Chua, 2014). Due to this reason, the images selected for the exhibition portrayed authentic Asian identity. Furthermore, the exhibition aimed to contain a representation of politics that were coherent, sophisticated, and integrated artistic vision to promote political balance (Chua, 2014). Space was also another factor that was highly considered during the exhibition, as it was structured in constellations structured in a nonlinear manner to showcase time and moments. The strategy brought past arts to the present, the past in the present. The selection of paintings contained imagery and the different themes they produced (Teh, 2020). In addition, the strategy led to the effective collection of art from different parts of the continent. The collection of different paints made it easy for the exhibitors to portray the diversity in arts and paintings linked to the Asian continent (Chua, 2014). Realism is presumed to end static, leading to the development of more dynamic strategies characterized by the respective organized institutions.

Acquisition and Collection of modern and Contemporary Asian Art

Acquiring modern and contemporary art in the different global museums takes different ways. The numerous processes make it easy to identify potential artists and their works and arrange to collect such artworks for a specific gallery. The most common way is through museum boards which can search for such works and purchase them from mainstream galleries (Desai, 2013). Through such processes, the galleries can accumulate resources necessary for acquiring such arts that require large sums of money. In addition, the galleries, at times, engage in long-term work relationships with prominent Artists where they can acquire their works after they complete them (Desai, 2013). Such relationships ensure the flow of artworks directly from the artists (Teh, 2020). In other cases, the galleries can engage in single purchase agreements with artists, enabling them to get various artworks from the Asian continent.

Role of Immigrant in Acquisition and Collection of Asian Arts

Immigrants have also played a critical role in identifying new artists and acquiring artworks from the Asian continent. This is because immigrants have perfect knowledge of the artists from their native countries and can present their works in foreign countries (Desai, 2013). Therefore, the emergence of the immigrant leader is presumed to play a critical role in enabling the transfer of artworks from Asia to the United States, where they find avenues for the sale of native artifacts. In addition, museums and galleries can acquire contemporary Asian art through public auctions.

Issues Facing Acquisition and Collection of Contemporary Asian Arts

The acquisition and collection of artworks from the Asian continent have numerous issues that make the process challenging. The west’s lack of interest in twentieth-century arts has significantly impacted the acquisition of arts in the global market. The west has always influenced Asia’s art in development and consumption. Such aspects are linked to the lack of artistic touch in modern Asian art (Desai, 2013). They focus on developing arts that portray nationalism suited to their national market rather than the global market. Traditional cultural divisions have also played a critical role in representing contemporary art in the global market (Teh, 2020). Although Asian countries’ histories are critical in understanding the development of modern art, the dismissal of national heroes is perceived to be a lack of focus on the art acquisition bodies in the collection of twentieth-century art. The international market is presumed to ignore the national art heroes as they are more suited for portraying nationalism than impressing the global market. Globalization trends are another factor that has influenced the acquisition and collection of contemporary arts where an individual of Asian descent who lives abroad is not acknowledged as they have to return to their country of origin from their country of residence (Desai, 2013).

Local Issues That Influenced Acquisition of Contemporary Arts in the International Markets

Traditional curatorial divisions are presumed to ignore some parts of Asia, where only parts of the continent are represented while others are left out. Such aspects defy the geopolitical definition in Asia, which includes vast areas in south, southeast, east, and central Asia (Desai, 2013). The materials used to develop contemporary art are presumed to influence the acquisition of modern Asian art. The availability of such materials from different parts of the world has made the categorization of such arts challenges. This aspect has acquired Asian art more complex and challenging. in addition, there existed a variety of art acquisition platforms which focused on different types of arts making the market disintegrated.

Acquisition Policies and Re-Think Existing Collection Models

Due to the existing challenges experienced in acquiring modern Asian arts, policies should be developed to ensure that hybrid departments would be made to purchase both modern and contemporary art and take them to the encyclopedic museum. Gallery boards and other independent art collectors should recognize that contemporary Asian art is obtained worldwide (Desai, 2013). In addition, the two existing curatorial departments should be merged to provide a single acquisition scholarship. Such a mechanism would ease the art acquisition process making it more effective. In addition, placing the art acquisition under the department of Asian art would make it easy for the acquiring department to acquire such art from the Asian art market (Teh, 2020). There is also the need to develop a joint fund to acquire twentieth-century art since the lack of funds is a central issue in contemporary art collections. Lastly, there is the need to develop new patterns of art acquisition and collection to incorporate art from new and young talents. Therefore, the mechanisms for art acquisitions should develop a model that should go beyond the existing rivalry and one-upmanship (Desai, 2013). These mechanisms effectively bridge the gap present in the knowledge of contemporary Asian art and embrace the future development of art acquisition and collection.

References

Chua, K. (2014). Exhibiting Modern Asian Art in Southeast Asia. Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, 13(2), 105–116. Web.

Desai, V. N. (2013). Beyond the “authentic-exotic”: Collecting contemporary Asian art in the twenty-first century. Collecting the New, 103–114. Web.

Teh, D. (2020). Regionality and Contemporaneity. World Art, 10(2-3), 351–370. Web.

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