Inside 3 Curators’ Favorite Works at the Museum

Why It Matters

The showcase demonstrates how Asian creators blend tradition with modern concerns, shaping market demand and informing cultural discourse worldwide.

Key Takeaways

• Park Dae-sung blends Korean ink with modernist abstraction.
• Cerulean blobs symbolize waterfall flow, contrasting nature and architecture.
• Fujita Tsuguharu’s cat painting reflects exile and identity crisis.
• Gurjeet Singh repurposes blouse fabric into tear‑evoking sculpture.
• The exhibition highlights cultural hybridity across Asian art traditions.

Summary

The Asian Art Museum’s latest video tour lets three curators spotlight their favorite pieces, ranging from Korean ink modernism to a Japanese expatriate’s feline portrait and a Punjabi fabric sculpture. The selections—Park Dae‑sung’s ink work, Fujita Tsuguharu’s cat painting, and Gurjeet Singh’s “Teary Eyes”—illustrate the museum’s breadth across East and South Asian contemporary art.

Park Dae‑sung reimagines traditional Korean ink by injecting bold cerulean blobs that suggest waterfall flow and juxtaposing hidden pavilion forms to contrast man‑made structures with nature. Fujita Tsuguharu’s cat, painted while he lived in Brooklyn, is interpreted by the curator as a self‑portrait of an artist forced into exile after accusations of nationalism. Gurjeet Singh constructs “Teary Eyes” from material originally intended for a blouse, allowing the fabric to rip and then stitching it, creating a visual metaphor for tears.

The curator notes Park’s “language of modernism,” highlights Fujita’s quote about being told “he’s a Japanese nationalist, he’s got to go,” and describes Singh’s process of the fabric tearing and being sewn back together, reinforcing the work’s emotional resonance.

Together, the works underscore a dialogue between heritage and contemporary expression, signaling how Asian artists negotiate identity, displacement, and materiality—insights that resonate with collectors, scholars, and audiences seeking nuanced global narratives.

Original Description

Here's our first "triple-header"—the curatorial team at the Asian Art Museum San Francisco takes you deep into their collection, which is home to over 20,000 artworks. Moving from landscape to portrait to sculpture, this highlights tour reflects the breadth of the museum's collection and shows — and the many ways artists navigate culture, place, and belonging.

Yoon-Jee Choi introduces a piece by Park Dae-sung. Robert Mintz shares the story behind Foujita Tsuguharu's anxious cat. And Padma Dorje Maitland wraps it up with Gurjeet Singh's soft, teary-eyed sculpture. 

Asian Art Museum

San Francisco 🇺🇸