AAAC exhibitions program seeks to engage viewers in the historical presence of an Asian American artistic development, raising issues and aesthetics of particular interest from an Asian American perspective, while supporting creative opportunities for young artists. Many exhibitions include young Asian American artists or artists significantly influenced by Asia. The Mid-Career Artist Series presents a one or two person show. This is an occasional series focused on recognizing the achievements of a mid-career artist. Mid-career artists are nominated & selected by a panel of professionals in the arts.

A Collaboration with Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning and Bronx River Arts Center, MetroPoles is curated by Jose Ruiz, Heng Gil, and Bob Lee. Artists Include Olivia Beens, Christopher K. Ho, and others. See Press Release.


CLUSTERBOMB!
The First Zero Capital Exhibition
Opens: Saturday, December 13th, 2008
Closes: January 15th 2009

CLUSTERBOMB! is a creative response to physical and psychological displacement in the post 9-11 era of disillusionment and artistic inertia. It is an interdisciplinary, intergenerational and transnational network of artists, writers, activists, cultural workers and youth. Participants are posing a collective challenge to the issue of have and have-nots, why those who have are getting more and those who don't have are getting less or nothing.

"A Lunar New Year Folk Arts Festival" featuring Asian Folk artists and musicians. Five traditional artists/crafts people will be giving hands on demonstrations. Artists include a Chinese miniature dough figurine artist, a calligrapher, an Indian Mahendi hand painting artist, an Er Hu performer, together with a Tibetan folk dance and music performance. New Year delicacies will also be served. Audiences will have the opportunity to interact with skilled folk artists and ask questions, make requests and learn and delight in the magic of a traditional craft and music. This is an ideal event for families.

In addition to our Annual Lunar New Year Folk Arts Festival, an exhibition of some high quality Tibetan Thangka paintings as well as works from AAAC Permanent Collection of Folk Art will be on view during this festival. The dates of the exhibition are January 26 till March 13, 2009. Thangka paintings usually depict deities and saints, aspects of the life of the Buddha, as well as the more abstract Mandalas, astrological charts, medical descriptions and scenes, usually serving as a supplementary aid to religious educational development. They are meant as focal elements for visualization, meditation and contemplation. See Press Release.

Asian American Arts Centre at The 30th CAPA Heritage Festival!
Date: Sunday, May 3rd 2009
Time: 12:00PM - 6:00PM

For more information about CAPA Heritage Festival, go to www.capaonline.org

"America's Chinatown Voices" at Columbus Park
Installation Dates: May 09 - August 08, 2009
Artists: Nathalie Pham and Avani Patel

A special outdoor art installation in Columbus Park. Read more.

CHINA: JUNE 4, 1989
Online Exhibition
Date: June 4, 2009 - ongoing
Go to Current Exhibition.

On Friday, July 3rd, Asian American Arts Centre will be hosting the annual ART SLAM, showcasing the work of emerging Asian-American & Asia influenced artists. Participating Artists are Hwa Hyun Kim, Kerry Ann Lee, Nung-Hsen Hu, and Xiaoqing Ding. More to be announce.

Home Made is a visual art and design project that draws upon Lee's heritage to interogate Chinese identity in New Zealand. The lavishly illustrated artist book expands the discussion on mid-19th Century Cantonese Diaspora and celebrates an alternative cultural history of Chinese settlement through cut-paper, paint, found text and images. See Press Release.

Click HERE for more information.

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Innovative approaches to common fibers by three artists, Asian, Asian American, and an American artist who is significantly influenced by Asia.  Fibers in both two and three dimensions are physical yet convey an intangible touch of the lightness of air.  In so doing they integrate  both Asian and Western sensibilities. Organized by Robert Lee

An exhibition of Chinese Tribal Textiles from the Minority Peoples of China will be public through the Chistmas Holidays and Chinese Lunar New Year as well. The dates are December 20, 2007 to February 29, 2008. These are museum quality fabrics representative of historical tribal traditions. They are from the peoples known as: Miao, Gejia,Yao, Yi, Dai, Li, and Zhang. Many more garments, banners, festival jackets and blankets have been added to fill the gallery, from Dai, Hainan as well as Gejia and Miao. Some are quite fashionable for use today.

A reception will be held to mark this exquisite display of pattern and skill, the highest embroidery quality of China. The collector of these tribal arts and textiles, Dr. Andrew Wang, will speak at this event. More info will become available later. His knowledge and experience of this art and their traditions is extensive and most interesting.

"A Lunar New Year Folk Arts Festival" featuring Chinese Folk Artists, and musician. Five traditional artists/crafts people will be giving hands on demonstrations. Artists include a Chinese miniature dough figurine artist, a Sumi ink calligrapher, an Indian Mahendi hand painting artist, an Er Hu performer, together with a Chinese folk dance and music Pipa performance. New Year delicacies will also be served. Audiences will have the opportunity to interact with skilled folk artists and ask questions, make requests and learn and delight in the magic of a traditional craft and music. This is an ideal event for families.

The complexity of Yeong Gill Kim's brush work on muslin has attained a breathtaking clarity and simplicity. He shows that contemporary art in America need not be founded on a break with the past, nor on claims of a new age of global technology. He demonstrates that a crisis of identity, a seemingly unbridgeable gap born of two irreconcilable cultures, can be spanned with a renewed confidence in the vitality of one's Asian traditions.

An artist well trained in the Japanese art of Ikebana has turned her skilled mind to the art of painting, collage and installation to create delicate and masterful renderings on fabric, mystical journeys through landscapes and clouds despite the noise of the cities of New York and Florida.

The Reintegration of Tradition into Contemporary Art: A Panel talk with Marie Yoho Dorsey & Yeong Gill Kim
Date: Friday, August 8, 2008
Time: 5:00PM - 7:00PM
Admission: Free

Marie Yoho Dorsey and Young Gill Kim will speak on the synchronicity of Asian traditions and contemporary ideas, where they meet in their own art and lives. Images and art works will be shown and there will be time for questions to be discussed. This event is FREE, donations are welcome.

ArtSlam event is to promote emerging artists the opportunity to discuss & share their work with curators, arts professionals, peers and the public.

Wednesday July 16 2008
Artists: Abha Dawesar, Vivian Wong, Kenji Kojima, Yasuko Shingu.

Friday, August 15th 2008, from 7 to 9 pm
Artists: Barbara Coleman, Cecile Chong, Dana Zaldo, Kikuko Tanaka, Ugur Kunst.

Infinite Mirror - a travelling exhibition on American diversity by "Art Train" inclusive of Asian American contemporary artists in conjunction with Brandywine Printshop in Philadelphia. Dates: tour planned to begin Winter 2008

Artrain A collaborative travelling exhibition of contemporary Asian American artists in conjunction with African American & Latino art components.

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By appointment; $2 per person attending; minimum 15 people; 30-45 min. Tours can be arranged according to the needs of each group. Tailored for each group talks normally cover an introduction to Asian art, the Arts Centre, its purpose, history or context in the Asian American community of Lower Manhattan, diversity as exemplified by the racial complexion of the present group, an introduction to selected art works, as well as a methodology to visual learning.

Asian American artists, talks and performance events on site also available for booking. Call at 917.923.8118 or Email at aaacinfo@artspiral.org

Directions to AAAC: one block south of Canal St. D, B Train to Grand St or N, R, Q, W & #6 Train to Canal St. or #4 & #5 Train to City Hall. M103 or M15 bus to Chatham Square. By Car: Holland Tunnel leads to entrance to Manhattan Bridge along Canal St. where it crosses the Bowery. Park in outdoor lots on Henry St east of the Bowery, off Cathrine or Market Sts.

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