Contemporary Asian American artists––with a strong sense of being American and an acute critical consciousness of world matters––grapple with issues of identity in a way that sets them apart from their predecessors. Whereas many Asian American artists of a previous generation directly referred to an Asian sense of self in their works, it can be argued that younger Asian American artists only sometimes make reference to it or omit it entirely.

This creatively designed book focuses on recent works by seventeen Asian American artists born in the late 1960s and 1970s––including Patty Chang, Kaz Oshiro, and Jean Shin––to explore this pivotal generation of artists, the prevalent themes in their art, and the different ways they configure identity in their work. One Way or Another features examples of painting, sculpture, and video and installation art––many previously unpublished––and includes essays that discuss the shifting meaning of Asian America over the last decade and address the issues of mixed heritage and the emergence of an evolving Asian American identity in an increasingly globalized society.

Distributed for the Asia Society Museum

Exhibition Schedule:

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California (September 19 – December 23, 2007)


Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston (January 20 – March 31, 2007)


Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles (February 9 – May 2, 2008)


Asia Society and Museum, New York (September 8 – December 10, 2006)