The Art of Sushi and Sake
One Way Or Another Asian American Art Now Exhibition

By Nancy Uyemura

The critically acclaimed traveling exhibition, One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now at the Japanese American National Museum will close on May 4. Those of you who have not gotten to see this exceptional exhibit need to make it a priority on your list of things to do. Featuring 17 contemporary artists selected by a team of three curators, this exhibition was organized by Asia Society, New York.
The exhibition title is derived from the 1978 hit song by Blondie, which suggests a diverse way of making or seeing art. One Way or Another displays the willingness of the featured artists to choose, manipulate and reinvent different kinds of languages and issues, whether formal, conceptual, or political. In contrast, in 1994, Asia Society assembled Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, the organization's first major show featuring Asian American artists primarily examining and wrestling with their immigrant experience.
The artists were chosen by a national, three-person team: Susette S. Min, formerly curator at the Drawing Center in New York and now Assistant Professor, Asian American Studies and Art History at University of California, Davis; Karin Higa, Adjunct Curator of Art, Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles; and Melissa Chiu, Director of the Museum and Curator of Contemporary Asian Art, Asia Society.
Higa observed that One Way or Another "takes a heterogeneous approach to artistic practice that defies the notion that there is such a thing as 'Asian American art,' at least one with a shared and cohesive set of formal or conceptual characteristics. Instead, there are Asian American artists from many different places who make different kinds of art."
The current featured artists have cultural roots in China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United States and Vietnam. The artists are Michael Arcega, Xavier Cha, Patty Chang, Binh Danh, Mari Eastman, Ala Ebtekar, Chitra Ganesh, Glenn Kaino, Geraldine Lau, Jiha Moon, Laurel Nakadate, Kaz Oshiro, Anna Sew Hoy, Jean Shin, Indigo Som, Mika Tajima, and Saira Wasim. Many of the participating artists live in or are otherwise firmly based in three locales: Los Angeles, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. Aside from being major arts centers, these regions are also significant population centers of Asian Americans with the attendant resources serving those diverse communities.
Of this exhibition Chiu observed, One Way or Another presents a fresh generation of artists who have highly divergent points of view and who use a startling array of practices and media. The exhibition captures a particular moment in the American cultural landscape, suggesting new meanings for the 'Asian American' experience."
For this installation, artists Jean Shin, Geraldine Lau and Chitra Ganesh will create original art. Shin will add to her work, Unraveling, which was commissioned for the exhibition and grows and becomes more complicated with each venue. For this installation, this piece will consist of over 180 sweaters collected from members of the Asian American arts community. Shin explains, "For the first part of the project, I asked each of the curators and organizers of this exhibition to donate one of their knitted sweaters. In turn, they have individually invited other artists, museum staff, and members of the Asian American arts community to participate. With each personal request, the project maps a self-defined Asian American arts community." As the title suggests, the sweaters are deconstructed--their strands of yarn unraveled and extended across the gallery space in a colorful network of lines, forming what Shin describes as "a reflection on our connections and the web of relationships we weave through our interactions."
One Way or Another was organized by the Asia Society, New York, with support from Altria Group, Inc., the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation, Nimoy Foundation and Asia Society's Contemporary Art Council. It is co-presented by the Asia Society of Southern California with Media Sponsors: Los Angeles Downtown News, LA18 KSCI-TV and The Rafu Shimpo.
Additional Support Provided by: Ernest Y. and Kiyo Doizaki, Mariko Gordon and Hugh Cosman, Thomas and Barbara Iino, Mitsubishi International Corporation Foundation, Kristine Nishiyama and Barry K. Schwebs, Michael W. Oshima and Chiaki Tanaka, PhD, and Deborah Shiba and Gordon Yamate.

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Japanese American National Museum is located at 369 East First Street in the historic Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. For more information, call (213) 625-0414 or visit www.janm.org. National Museum hours are Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Admission is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors; $4.00 for students and children; free for Museum members and children under age six. Admission is free to everyone on Thursdays from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and every third Thursday of the month from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.



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