Modern Asian Art

Modern Asian Art is a seminal publication focusing on the modern art of Japan, China, India, Thailand and Indonesia. Clark offers a unique viewpoint, debunking the idea of a single 'modern Asian art' and of a one-way flow of influence from West to East, presenting instead a complex ebb and flow of information and transformation, where many diverse modernisms interact. Through a series of empirical micro-histories the book proceeds to look closely at the conditions for art practice in each country. Prehistories, colonialism, transfers of information, the application of neotraditional art, arts infrastructure, types of artist, modes of exhibition, domains of practice, the avant-garde movement, the influence of nationalism, and issues of integration and autonomy are rigorously explored by the author. The dynamic realm of contemporary Asian art, which today takes the international stage, is also highlighted in later chapters. Modern Asian Art is a scholarly publication that offers specialists - academics, art historians and curators - a sophisticated reading of modern art discourses, while presenting the general reader and student of modern and contemporary Asian art with an insight into the art and recent histories of the Asian region.