HEARTMIND: Selections
from the Bob Eng Lee and Asian American Arts Centre Collections
This grouping features artworks reflective of conversations between the curators and Lee about Asian American art history. Topics explored included ideas of home, intergenerational dialogue, conceptual artmaking, and unique forms of making.
Reflections of Home: Artwork that Explores Ideas of Place
This grouping of works explores ideas of home, cultural identity, and displacement – a topic prominent in discussion between the curators and Lee.
Ming Fay
Clay Head (1 of 3), late 1970s Sculpture (clay)
Intergenerational Histories: Artworks of Shared Significance to Lee and the Curators
The next selection of works each held personal significance to Lee. Though all of the works in the collection are of great importance to Lee, this grouping highlights works that were uniquely acquired, gifted to Lee, or shown in important exhibitions. The unearthed narratives behind each work’s acquisition instill the importance of intergenerational dialogue in furthering our knowledge of Asian American art history.
Joseph Gotto
Title and date unknown
Lithograph
Ideas of Asian American Art: Conceptual Artworks in the AAAC Collections
Many of the artworks in the AAAC collection were made during the late twentieth century – a time when conceptual art dominated contemporary art discussions and an area of interest to the three curators. The following works emphasize the idea over the artwork to create experiential works related to their experiences as Asian American artists in New York.
Kwok Mang Ho
Frogs A, 1983
Painting
Material Explorations: Artworks featuring Innovative Ideas of Making
Many of the works in Lee’s collection extend material categorization. The following works were selected because of their notable aesthetic qualities.
Akiko Kotani
Silk Drawing, date unknown
Silk on canvas
