A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa Written and illustrated by Andrea D’Aquino (Hudson, N.Y.: 2019, 40 pp., $17.95, hard cover) Andrea D’Aquino, artist and author, introduces young children to Ruth Asawa, a San Francisco institution. The author focuses on the influences that shaped and inspired Asawa’s unique artistry. It begins with […]
A visionary’s life intertwined with art
July 16, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa By Marilyn Chase (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2020, 224 pp., $29.95, hard cover) Ruth Aiko Asawa, one of the most original and prolific artists of the American 20th century, left behind a stunning legacy when she died at age 87 in 2013. “Everything She Touched: The Life […]
The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great: Chiura Obata: American illustrator
January 1, 2020 by Leave a Comment
One area of United States culture in which Asian Americans have been able to make a substantial contribution is the visual arts. Yet visual artists and their production have remained fairly obscure in discussions of Asian American experience, at least as compared with literary creators and performing artists. To be sure, even compared with members […]
Queering the inquiry of Asian American art
July 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
QUEERING CONTEMPORARY ASIAN AMERICAN ART Edited By Laura Kina and Jan Christian Bernabe (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017, 296 pp., $90 hardcover; $40 paperback) This anthology grows out of a National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored Summer Institute held at New York University in 2012, co-directed by Margo Machida and Alexandra Chang and entitled, “Re-Envisioning […]
Reconceptualizing the narrative of American art
July 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
THE OTHER AMERICAN MODERNS: MATSURA, ISHIGAKI, NODA, HAYAKAWA By ShiPu Wang (University Park, Penn: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017, 196 pp., $69.95, hard cover) I have always been intrigued by the titles authors select to represent their books, and most especially if they are as deftly apt as that ShiPu Wang has devised for the […]
LETTERS: A JAM Workshop Gem
June 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s Note: This letter was sent in response to the “Close-knit Japantown artists reconnect†article that appeared in the May 2-15, 2013 issue of the Nichi Bei Weekly. Dear Editor, I read with interest in Heather Ito’s story about (JAM), the Japantown Art and Media Workshop that made “poster, logo and brochure designs for various […]
AN OUTDOOR URBAN GALLERY: The San Jose Japantown mural
August 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
SAN JOSE — Described as an “urban gallery,†the artistry, color, and vision of designer/artist Tamiko Rast and a number of local artists shines through the 60 uniquely crafted panels reflecting images of San Jose’s Japantown, both past and present. After two years, the mural project, which is fixed to the city’s Corporation Yard fence […]
Obama intends to nominate farmer to Nat’l Council on the Arts
June 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate David Mas Masumoto as a member of the National Council on the Arts on June 20. Masumoto is an organic peach and grape farmer, author, and columnist for The Fresno Bee. Masumoto’s books include “Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm,†“Harvest […]
‘Phantoms’ takes a modern look at ancient Asian cultural beliefs
May 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Exploring themes of life, death and beyond, “Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past†is the Asian Art Museum’s first large-scale contemporary art exhibit. Examining timeless themes and questions of the cosmos, “Phantoms†features more than 150 artworks, combining 60 new works with objects from the museum’s current collection. This exhibit blends new perspectives of […]
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Finding my own ‘Place’ through art
It’s one thing to write for a living and another to create art. Art often speaks personal truths or attempts to articulate something difficult to tangibly describe. So it was a radically different exercise for me to create a piece of art for the “A Place of Her Own†exhibition currently on display at J-Sei […]