The Real Rebels: Postwar Avant-Garde Art of Asia

Catalog description

From Akasegawa Genpei's Model 1,000-Yen Note (1963), which led to a trial of the artist in Tokyo, to Sun Yuan and Peng Yu's Dogs that Cannot Touch Each Other (1993), which brought bomb threats when exhibited in Guggenheim, New York in 2017, contemporary art from Asia continues to pioneer, to shock, and to provoke heated debates. This course introduces major movements of avant-garde art in Asia after 1945, which, despite its extraordinary boldness and richness, remained understudied until recently. We will learn about the emergence of body art, conceptual art and Pop Art in Japan, the transition from monochromatic abstractions to installation and bio-art in Korea, the ethically problematic performances as well as collaborative, activist art in China, postcolonial and gender-centered art in India and Pakistan, and the issues of identities in the art of Southeast Asia. We will also investigate the rapid growth of biennials, museums, auction houses, and regional networks in Asia, as well as the crucial roles played by diasporic and migratory artists. This course aims to show the avant-garde movements as global phenomena, interconnected yet distinctive in each locale. We will also ponder over the concept of avant-gardism itself: what is it? Do we still want it in art and politics? And why?