Xu Bing: Word Alchemy Symposium
'Magic Carpet,' 2006. Xu Bing, hand weaved carpet. Courtesy of the artist.
Xu Bing: Word Alchemy assembles more than 50 of Xu Bing’s most important woodcut prints, videos, drawings, installations, and other ephemera representing almost 50 years of the artist’s creative output. Starting with Xu’s early engagements with social realism and Western art historical traditions alike, the exhibition charts the evolution of the artist’s linguistic experiments which challenge and expand not only the history of Chinese landscape painting, but the canons of contemporary art.
Born in China and now working in both Brooklyn and Beijing, artist Xu Bing (b. 1955) is widely considered to be one of the most important artists to emerge from China in the 20th century. Focusing on the artist’s longstanding engagement with words and language, Word Alchemy is the most comprehensive exhibition on this theme so far, and around one-third of the objects in the exhibition are being shown in the U.S. for the first time. The exhibition also includes new commissions created specifically for this exhibition.
Highlights of the exhibition include Xu Bing’s early works, never-before-exhibited notebooks, landmark prints including the Series of Repetitions handscroll, a new Background Story with a connection to Zhao Mengfu’s famous Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains handscroll, a new Texas-themed Square Word Calligraphy, and a new installation of Monkeys Grasp for the Moon in Asia Society Texas' Fayez Sarofim Grand Hall.
On the occasion of the exhibition, Asia Society Texas will publish a full-color exhibition catalogue and host a symposium on Xu Bing's art on February 23, 2024.
You are cordially invited to attend the opening for Xu Bing: Word Alchemy on February 22, 2024. Please register at the following link:
https://asiasociety.org/texas/events/opening-reception-xu-bing-word-alchemy
Join Asia Society Texas on February 23rd for a symposium that explores the creative expanse of Xu Bing’s artistic career through the highlights of the new exhibition Xu Bing: Word Alchemy.
Co-curators Susan L. Beningson, Ph.D. and Owen Duffy, Ph.D. will be joined in conversation by other leading curators and scholars from around the country to explore Xu Bing’s practices and global cultural relevance as a contemporary art figure. Featured artist Xu Bing will be in attendance at the symposium for a keynote lecture.
This event is free and open to the public; registration required. Please register at this link for the symposium:
https://asiasociety.org/texas/events/symposium-xu-bing-word-alchemy
Symposium Details
Featured Speakers
Xu Bing, Artist and Keynote Speaker
Jacqueline Chao, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Asian Art, Dallas Museum of Art
Dora C.Y. Ching, Deputy Director, Tang Center for East Asian Art, Princeton University
Hiromi Kinoshita, Curator of Chinese Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Zoe S. Kwok, Nancy and Peter Lee Associate Curator of Asian Art, Princeton University Art Museum
Lesley Ma, Ming Chu Hsu and Daniel Xu Associate Curator of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Katherine Anne Paul, Virginia and William M. Spencer Curator of Asian Art, Birmingham Museum of Art
Jan Stuart, Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art, National Museum of Asian Art
Xin Wang, Independent Curator, The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Xu Bing: Word Alchemy is co-curated by Susan L. Beningson, Ph.D., Independent Curator, and Owen Duffy, Nancy C. Allen Curator and Director of Exhibitions, with Rebecca Becerra, Exhibitions Manager and Registrar. The exhibition will be on view at Asia Society Texas through July 14, 2024.
Lead support for Xu Bing: World Alchemy is provided by Texas Commision on the Arts. Major support is provided by Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, American Friends of the Shanghai Museum, Anne and Albert Chao, and an anonymous donor. Special exhibition support is provided by Michele and Marty Cohen, Judy and Scott Nyquist, Milton D. Rosenau, Jr. and Dr. Ellen R. Gritz, Leigh and Reggie Smith, and an anonymous donor. This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Asia Society Texas Center, 1370 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX 77004
