Contemporary Asian Art Retrospective

During the past decade a growing interest in contemporary works of art from/and/or by artists of Asian heritage has gained validity and acceptance in the wider art world. Modern Asian Art is more "pluralistic" with no prevailing style or universally accepted set of aesthetic criteria by which to make discrininations. This pluralism makes it difficult to define or maintain aesthetic hierarchies with respect to what we call contemporary Asian Art. One criteria - the concept of newness - a variant of originality, is more significant than finding some "oriental" influence in the work. Younger Asian artists incorporate, blend and fuse traditional Western Art concepts and images to the point where it is difficult to determine what, if any, "Asian" qualities define their work. Some of these artists have broken free of decades of isolation and artistic oppression, escapiing the shadow of the Cultural Revolution. Others, whether expatriated, living in Asia and able to travel abroad, or as second-generation citizens of Asian origin, these artists have adapted styles and techniques that embrace a wide variety of social, ethnic and cultural traditions. They have been able to blen Asian and more traditional Western cultural elements in unique ways to express their own artistic visions.