Teaching Modern and Contemporary Asian Art
by Queena Ko and Sharon Vatsky
Teaching Modern and Contemporary Asian Art is a resource that features 27 artists in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s collection. The artists in this resource are from countries across East Asia and Southeast Asia, but many live and work between two or more cities around the world. With the launch of the Asian Art Initiative in 2006, the Guggenheim has actively expanded its program beyond Europe and America to include the study, presentation, and acquisition of modern and contemporary art from Asia. Our approach, known as global art history, seeks to integrate art from Asia within an international purview while illuminating its specific meaning and context. By showing how artists work between local, regional, and global currents, this resource seeks to provide a new understanding of the multiple histories of the art of our time. With these materials, we hope to introduce teachers and students to artists and artworks beyond the Western canon, as well as support those who want to broaden the narrative of art history in the classroom.