A Collection Spanning Centuries
Binghamton University Art Museum
January 24-March 4, 2020
This exhibition celebrates the oppositions that encompass the art traditions of China, Korea, and Japan. They range from subtle graduated hues on ceramic vessels that play on light and reflection to cacophonous folk traditions that draw on a vibrant range of tones, patterns and shapes. Some Asian images privilege the flatness of the painted surface or the robust linearity of the brushstroke. Others suggest great depth, leading the eye across the picture plane and into distant spaces.
The earliest works featured here were produced by an ancient civilization that left no written records, while the most recent piece was made by a living artist. These vessels, paintings, prints and works of calligraphy attest to the resilience of East Asian aesthetic concepts, but also highlight their connections to other cultures, within and outside of Asia. For instance, Chinese ceramics were particularly desirable to audiences in Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, but also in the Middle East and Europe. Asian painters and printmakers became interested in Western pictorial techniques, materials, subject matter and image technologies as early as the seventeenth century. They responded to them in creative and dynamic ways over many generations.
The recent acquisitions featured in this exhibition were generously donated by distinguished alumni who have appreciated Asian art for decades. New York City resident Stanley Reifer '64 and his wife, Susan Reifer '65, have built an impressive art collection, with strengths in Chinese and Japanese art. In this exhibition, the Reifers' diverse holdings of Chinese ceramics, donated by their son Jeremy, are featured prominently. John Copoulos '73 lives across the country in San Francisco. His interests focus primarily on Korean and Japanese art, with exquisite and unique works on paper, including calligraphy, painting and woodblock prints. The donations from these two alumni collections come together to present a rich cross-section of Asian art and aesthetics. These and earlier gifts constitute a significant portion of the Binghamton University Art Museum's Asian collection, which has grown and become diversified considerably over the past decade.
Below, you will see some selected exhibition highlights, along with the labels that accompanied them in the museum and resources for further study.
The exhibition was curated by Nancy Um (Department of Art History and the Harpur College Dean's Office) and Jason Park (PhD candidate, Department of Art History) with research support provided by Gabrielle Bonilla '22. The following scholars contributed their expertise to the research team: Professors Zu-yan Chen, Rumiko Sode and Roberta Strippoli, and Shelly Xue from the Corning Museum of Glass. This online gallery was compiled by Gabrielle Bonilla '22.
For more information about the Binghamton University Art Museum and its current exhibitions, visit the museum's website.