In Focus: Asian American Art from the Collection
The exhibition provides an inside look at the Cantor Arts Center’s nationally recognized Asian American Art Initiative.
August 27, 2026 – February 22, 2027
The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University presents In Focus: Asian American Art from the Collection, on view August 27, 2026 through February 22, 2027 in the Ruth Levison Halperin Gallery. The exhibition showcases a diverse selection of acquisitions made through the museum’s Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI). One of the fastest-growing areas of the Cantor’s collection, the group show features 21 works with some on view publicly for the first time. Co-founded in 2018 by Stanford art history professor Marci Kwon and Cantor Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, the AAAI is one of the nation’s leading museum initiatives dedicated to advancing research, education, community engagement, and public access to Asian American art. What began as roughly 30 objects has grown into a collection of more than 800. Striving to build an exceptional group of works, the museum has grown the collection through strategic acquisitions, exhibitions, publications, archival research, and community collaboration. Rather than reducing Asian American art to a single narrative, the presentation foregrounds the breadth and complexity of each artist's and practice, steering away from the notion that Asian American artists’ work must speak only to racial or ethnic identity. Spanning generations, In Focus brings together works by artists whose practices reflect a wide range of histories, perspectives, and creative concerns.
Featured artists include Pacita Abad, Ching Ho Cheng, Tseng Kwong Chi, Young Joon Kwak, Masami Teraoka, and Rupy C. Tut, among others, with works across painting, photography, and prints, dating from the 1950s through today.
“It’s a pleasure to showcase this survey of artists from the collection,” said Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander. “This presentation is a celebration of Asian American art and an example of the broad spectrum of creativity and invention within AAAI. We look forward to welcoming visitors to the gallery and bringing attention to this remarkable group of artists.”