Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Phantoms Gliding into the Asian Art Museum



A huge exhibit focusing on Asian cosmologies and spiritual beliefs is currently being installed at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum in preparation for its opening next week. The Phantoms of Asia show is a novel mixture of the permanent collection and contemporary art, some of it being especially created for this exhibit, such as Sun K. Kwak's black masking tape mural in the North Light Court above.



Instead of being stuffed into the three cramped rooms on the first floor which are usually the site of special exhibits, the show is being installed throughout the entire museum...



...side by side with Buddhas from the Avery Brundage permanent collection which look happy to have the new company.



Already there are a series of spooky screen paintings by Fuyuko Matsui in the Japanese rooms on the second floor...



...nearby a huge painting called Mountain Gods by the Japanese artist Aki Kondo.



In the Korean wing, there is a strange, two-art installation by Bae-Young-whan called Frozen Waves and Terra Incognita-Theta respectively.



On the third floor, the Himalayan wing is fronted by the New York based Tibetan artist Palden Weinreb's Entry (Gradation).

And photographers, take note. If you happen to be in the Civic Center this weekend, you can capture the installation of "Choi Jeong Hwa's (Korea) 24-foot red lotus Breathing Flower in Civic Center Plaza, across the street from the museum...with motorized bright red fabric leaves opening and closing, simulating the movement of a live lotus flower." It should be a kick.

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