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UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Beyond the Page: The Miniature as Attitude in Contemporary Art from Pakistan

February 18, 2010 – June 27, 2010
In the Changing Exhibition Galleries

The past two decades have witnessed a vibrant revival of miniature painting, a genre developed at Islamic courts in South, Central and West Asia between the 14th and 19th centuries. In recent years, artists have reinvented the traditional practice, negotiating a fine balance between historical practices and conceptual concerns. Collectively, their innovations have resulted in the "new miniature" movement – the subject of this exhibition.

Beyond the Page exhibits the work of thirteen contemporary artists who engage the miniature as practice and concept. Roughly half of the artists in the exhibition trained in traditional miniature painting at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan, and assimilate new imagery and materials. The remaining artists, though not trained in miniature painting, explore the concept of the miniature in such diverse forms as photography, textile, sculpture and installation. As these artists emigrate, travel and exhibit internationally, the "new miniature" movement has become a global phenomenon that demonstrates the vitality of contemporary Pakistani art and, more specifically, how aspects of "tradition" are essential parts of contemporary culture.

The exhibition will be on view from February 18 until June 27, 2010, and features fifty works by thirteen artists. The exhibition is guest curated by Hammad Nasar with Anna Sloan and Bridget Bray and organized by Green Cardamom and Pacific Asia Museum.

The artists featured in the exhibition are:

• Hamra Abbas (b. 1976; lives and works in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and Boston)
• Zahoor ul Akhlaq (b. 1941, Delhi; d. 1999, Lahore)
• Faiza Butt (b. 1973, Lahore; lives and works in London)
• Noor Ali Chagani
• Ali Kazim (b. 1979, Pattok, Pakistan; lives and works in Lahore)
• Aisha Khalid (b. 1972, Faisalabad, Pakistan; lives and works in Lahore)
• Rehana Mangi
• Hasnat Mehmood (b. 1978, Jhelum, Pakistan; lives and works in Jhelum)
• Muhammad Imran Qureshi (b. 1972, Hyderabad, Pakistan; lives and works in Lahore)
• Nusra Latif Qureshi (b. 1973, Lahore; lives and works in Melbourne)
• Rashid Rana (b. b. 1968, Lahore; lives and works in Lahore)
• Anwar Shemza (b. 1928, Shimla, India; d. 1985)
• Muhammad Zeeshan (b. 1980, Mirpurkhas, Pakistan; lives and works in Lahore)

Made possible in part by Pacific Asia Museum's Pakistan Arts Council, Amina Adaya, Yasmin and Salin Adaya, Shabbir and Tahira Ali, Shahid and Ayesha Kamran, Aziz and Deanna Khan, Hamid and Javeeda Malik, Ali Pourmola and Zara Shah, Mansoor and Fiza Shah, Meher Tabatabai and Qaiser Madad, Tehmina Adaya and Amr Tannir.

Durga and Kali Fighting the Demon; Hordes, India, c. 1800, Pahari School, Gouache and gold on paper, Pacific Asia Museum Collection, Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by The Collectors’ Circle, 2005.46.1.

Indian Miniature Painting

February 24 – May 16, 2010
In the Focus Gallery

As a companion exhibition to Beyond the Page: Contemporary Pakistani Art, the museum will display a range of classical miniature painting from its collection to connect visitors to this centuries-old artistic tradition in South Asia. The exhibition will focus on three genres in miniatures, Power, Pantheon and Portraiture, depicting images of rulers, deities and individuals. The conversation between these classical examples and the contemporary manifestations in Beyond the Page will engender a more complete understanding of the continuum between tradition and contemporary culture.

Curated by Bridget Bray.

Related Events:

Saturday, March 20, 2pm
Lecture: An exploration of the diverse beauty and rich history of Indian miniatures with curator Bridget Bray.

A Spring Scene–Woman Folding Robe, Japan, 19th century, Kikugawa Eizan, woodblock print on paper, Pacific Asia Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Lowrie in memory of Mr. Robert T. Lowrie, 1978.16.92

Japan in Blue and White

March 25, 2010 – March 6, 2011
In the Frank and Toshie Mosher Gallery of Japanese Art

In Japan, the pairing of blue and white has resulted in some of the most dramatic and uniquely Japanese designs. Indigo blue dye has been used to embellish textiles for centuries, while the mineral cobalt oxide has been used since the 17th century as an underglaze pigment on ceramics. In the early 19th century, a third blue pigment, Prussian blue, was imported from Europe and was so popular that it gave rise to a type of woodblock print known as aizuri-e, or "pictures printed in blue." These three blue pigments were originally employed for practical reasons – indigo dye repelled mosquitoes, cobalt oxide is one of the most stable underglaze ceramic pigments, and Prussian blue was colorfast. Mainly drawn from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition will focus on blue and white ceramics, textiles and woodblock prints to illustrate the history of three blue pigments and their development in Japan.

Guest-curated by Meher McArthur

This exhibition was made possible by Setsuko Oka in honor of Grace Oka Latham

Lichee Box

China Modern: Designing Popular Culture

August 4, 2010 – February 6, 2011
In the Changing Exhibition Galleries

China Modern: Designing Popular Culture presents the competing values of Chinese modern society and politics – cosmopolitan capitalism of Republican Shanghai c. 1920-1949, and the PRC’s Maoist communism from c. 1949-1970 – through the frame of advertising, consumer goods, product design and graphics. The exhibition begins by introducing early modern graphic design and concludes with contemporary art that appropriates the styles and themes of 1930s Shanghai or the Cultural Revolution.

Guest Curator: Kalim Winata