<p>Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tensions, the catalogue of a traveling exhibition organized by the Asia Society Galleries, New York City, features the work of 27 artists from five countries.<br>Focusing on India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand, this book gives a transnational assessment of a broad theme in art from five countries chosen to represent different mixes of history and postmodernity. As the subtitle Traditions/Tensions suggest, the art deals with the old and the new, the supposed opposites of the traditional and the contemporary, and how individual artists in Asia today accept, integrate, and/or reject them. Key themes include politics, religion, the environment, and women's issues.<br>The text comprises seven essays, with Apinan Poshyananda, an internationally renowned expert on contemporary Asian art and curator of the exhibition, providing a general overview. Five essays by recognized critics discuss current issues in the five countries: Geeta Kapur writes on India, Jim Supangkat on Indonesia, Marian Pastor Roces on the Philippines, Jae-Ryung Roe on South Korea, and Apinan Poshyananda on Thailand. Thomas McEvilley gives a view from North America. Biographies of the artists, chronologies of recent events in the five countries, and a bibliography round out the picture, making this volume a valuable resource for collectors, scholars, and students of contemporary art.</p>

Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions, Tensions

Arts & Photography

Poshyananda, Apinan

McEveilley, Thomas

Kapur, Geeta

Supangkat, Jim

Roces, Marian Pastor

Roe, Jae-Ryung

History & Criticism

Asia Society

Description: "I want the space inside the Buddha image to be a place of refuge for viewers seeking calmness and contentment," said Montien Boonma, the preeminent Thai artist, considered by some to be the face of Buddhism in contemporary art. In the troubled and turbulent context that was life at the end of the 20th century, Boonma explored art as a space of refuge and peace. His inspiration derived from his Buddhist faith and his own spiritual quest, which he communicated to the viewer through drawings, mixed media works, and installations. His contemplative art provided a way of life, an alternative to the Western idolatry of the ego. Rarely employing the figurative, Boonma used shapes, forms, and different textures to explore the process of meditation and healing, and to reflect an inspirational and tragic life in which love, death, and rebirth intertwined. Heeding the warnings of a Buddhist monk who predicted that their love would lead to untold suffering, he and his wife lived apart from the day they were married. Her death from breast cancer inspired some of his most beautiful work. His own premature death in August 2000 marked a great loss to contemporary Asian art.

Montien Boonma : Temple of the Mind

Boonma, Montien

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