In March 2019, a group of Princeton students explored New York City’s art galleries as part of the HUM/EAS 234: East Asian Humanities II: Tradition and Modernity course. The excursion was led by Professors of East Asian Studies, Steven Chung and Carlos Y. Lin.
The itinerary included stops at The Japan Society, Doosan Gallery, Chambers Fine Art, and Eli Klein and was energized by Korean lunch boxes and a walk along the High Line. The students were given special access by directors and curators who gave tours of their galleries and talks about the works.
Highlights of the trip included a retrospective of experimental 1960s and 1970s Japanese art movements in The Japan Society’s “Radicalism in the Wilderness” exhibition and Eli Klein’s beautifully curated collection of Chinese artist Zheng Guogu’s photographic works. The trip was designed to give the students a close-up of metropolitan art institutions that focus on contemporary Asian and Asian diasporic art, and their place in the global art world.
