New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) has acquired works by three Asian artists Cai Guo-Qiang (b. 1957), Qiu Xiaofei (b. 1977), and Matthew Wong (1984–2019). Now part of the Met’s modern and contemporary art collection, the pieces are on display in the institution’s Gallery 918. 

Each of these artists comes from different generations and backgrounds, having developed their careers in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, and the US, among other places. Their works delve into themes of time, geography, and sociopolitical realities to probe the weight of memory and imagination. 

Cai Guo-Qiang’s Bigfoot’s Footprints: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 6 (1991) is an important early eight-panel paper work featuring abstract ink and gunpowder marks, which denote “footprints” by the titular mythical creature. The accompanying Chinese inscriptions outline technical instructions for a gunpowder explosion project, which the artist carried out during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. 

Qiu Xiaofei’s monumental tableau, Belovezhskaya Forest (2019–21), draws on his childhood and family history in Harbin, weaving personal and political narratives into a surrealistic forest scene. The titular forest is situated on the border of Poland and Belarus, a site marked by watershed moments during the Nazi occupation and the history of the Soviet Union, evoking politically charged memories.

Matthew Wong’s End of the Day (2019), rendered in rich, poignant hues of royal blue and blood orange, was created in the year of his death. Created in the short-lived artist’s signature aesthetic, the large-scale painting blends Chinese poetic sensibilities with Western abstract influences, depicting a solitary figure wandering around a moon-lit landscape.

Joan Yiquan Chen is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.