In this conversation, renowned art historians Joan Kee and Steven Nelson will discuss Black artists who have incorporated Asian techniques, motifs, philosophies, and forms into their innovative works, resulting in a rich artistic dialogue that expands the boundaries of modern and contemporary art. Drawing from Kee’s recent book, The Geometries of Afro Asia: Art beyond Solidarity (2023), this discussion will center around the ink paintings of Norman Lewis, the impact of travel in China on the sculptures of Barbara Chase-Riboud, and the role of Japanese landscape architecture in the work of Martin Puryear. 

Venturing beyond existing stories of globalism, the intersection of Black and Asian art can help us reimagine art history as it expands, folds, curves, and bends across time and space. 

Joan Kee

Joan Kee is a Professor in the History of Art at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. A specialist in modern and contemporary art, her books include Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method (2013), Models of Integrity: Art and Law in Post-Sixties America (2019), and The Geometries of Afro Asia: Art beyond Solidarity (2023). Quoted in various media outlets including NPR and the New York Times, Kee’s work has appeared in numerous venues including MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, LACMA, and the Guggenheim. She holds a BA from Yale University, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU.

Steven Nelson

Steven Nelson is dean of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art and professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published widely on the arts, architecture, and urbanism of Africa and its diasporas and on queer studies. He has held visiting appointments at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Nelson earned a BA in studio art from Yale University and an AM and a PhD in art history from Harvard University.