Book Launch and Panel Discussion: Anthology “American Art in Asia: Artistic Praxis and Theoretical Divergence"

How do we think and talk about “American” and/or “Asian” art, at a time when the production and display of contemporary art is taking place across diffused borders, under the fluid conditions of a world dramatically transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental crisis, and the recent wars on multiple fronts in Europe and the Middle East?

Moderated by art historian Dr Karin Oen, this panel brings together artist James Jack, art historian Michelle Lim, and curator Russell Storer, to reflect on how postwar notions about national and personal identities have given way to new conversations about ecological sustainability, migration and migrants, community and the Global South issues. Their critical perspectives about the histories and historiographies of art, along with the long history of exchanges between the Americas and Asia, bring fresh insights into how cultural vicissitudes in the Asia-Pacific region are complex and multi-layered, shaping art practices and audience engagement in new ways.

This discussion is based on the recently published anthology American Art in Asia: Artistic Praxis and Theoretical Divergence (Routledge, 2022), which includes contributions from the panelists, as well as other leading scholars, curators and artists around the world.