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A major survey of contemporary artist Hung Liu, whose layered portraits explore history and memory through the stories of marginalized figuresHung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands presents the stunning work of this contemporary Chinese American artist. Liu (1948–2021) blends painting and photography to offer new frameworks for understanding portraiture in relation to time, memory, and history. Often working from photographs, she uses portraiture to elevate overlooked subjects, amplifying the sto...

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 mandated the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans, including men, women, children, the elderly, and the infirm, for the duration of the war. Allowed only what they could carry, they were given just a few days to settle their affairs and report to assembly centers. Businesses were lost, personal property was stolen or vandalized, and lives were shattered. The Japanese word gaman means "enduring what seems unbearable with dignity and grace. "Imprisoned in remot...

This interdisciplinary inquiry examines Asian Canadian political and cultural activism around community building, identity making, racial equity, and social justice. Informed by a postcolonial and postmodern cultural critique, it traces the trajectory of progressive cultural discourse generated by Asian Canadian cultural activists over the course of several generations. Xiaoping Li draws on historical sources and personal testimonies to convincingly demonstrate how culture acts as a means of eng...

This book brings to light the historical significance of five women artists - Yoko Ono, Yayoi Kusama, Takako Saito, Mieko Shiomi, and Shigeko Kubota, who were among the first Japanese women to leave their country - and its male-dominated, conservative art world -to explore the artistic possibilities in New York.

A revered modern artist and Zen teacher offers an inspirational account of how his art has been the expression of a life of social activism. “Awakening,” says Kazuaki Tanahashi,  “is to realize the infinite value of each moment of your own life as well as of other beings, then to continue to act accordingly.” This book is the record of a life spent acting accordingly:  Through his prose, poetry, letters, lyrics, and art, Tanahashi provides an inspirational account of a what it’s been like to wo...

Spend time in New York City and, soon enough, you will encounter some of the Japanese nationals who live and work there-young English students, office workers, painters, and hairstylists. New York City, one of the world's most vibrant and creative cities, is also home to one of the largest overseas Japanese populations in the world. Among them are artists and designers who produce cutting-edge work in fields such as design, fashion, music, and art. Part of the so-called "creative class" and a gr...

In Paik's Virtual Archive, Hanna B. Holling contemplates the identity of multimedia artworks by reconsidering the role of conservation in our understanding of what the artwork is and how it functions within and beyond a specific historical moment. In Holling's discussion of works by Nam June Paik (1932-2006), the hugely influential Korean American artist who is considered the progenitor of video art, she explores the relation between the artworks' concept and material, theories of musical perfor...

An expanded edition of the definitive book on Ruth Asawa’s fascinating life and her lasting contributions to American art. The work of American artist Ruth Asawa (1926–2013) is brought into brilliant focus in this definitive book, originally published to accompany the first complete retrospective of Asawa’s career, organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in 2006. This new edition features an expanded collection of essays and a detailed illustrated chronology that explore Asawa's fa...

Focusing on fine art and documentary photography, this book provides a racially diverse and culturally inclusive version of photography history and its contemporary manifestations. Who’s documenting the evolution of photography as it is happening now from an inclusive, multi-racial perspective? This is the challenge this book aims to address. The collection is the print manifestation of the Dodge and Burn art photography blog actively published from 2007 to 2018, including a selection of 35 int...

Japanese-born artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi's career and art evolved from innocence and early success to complexity and disillusionment. Born in Japan in 1889, Kuniyoshi arrived in the United States as a teenager and studied art in New York. He came into prominence during the 1920s through his distinctive modern figural style, original subjects, and humour. His work became more sensuous and worldly after two long stays in Paris, as he painted moody, reflective women and still lifes with unusual objects...

Discover the must-read, coming-of-age queer memoir about learning how to love yourself in a world that doesn’t want you to.‘A beautiful celebration of being different.’ TOM ALLEN‘An important story, told with a sharp wit and disarming humour’ MOHSIN ZAIDI author of A Dutiful Boy‘Brilliant, spectacularly witty and genuinely moving. I loved it.’ MATTHEW TODD, author of Straight JacketI’m just a man, standing in front of a salad, asking it to be a cake.What do you do when you’re too gay for Pakista...

Genny Lim s poem Wonder Woman ,first published in 1981, follows a narrator who observes the everyday lives of Asian women across generations, countries, and socioeconomic backgrounds wondering if their experiences reflect her own. The poem centers Asian women as its protagonists and asks what commonalities exist between these women. Often underrepresented in museum collections and important exhibitions, Asian American women and non-binary artists are now receiving recognition: This book expan...