The exhibition is curated by SDMA's curator of contemporary art, Betti-Sue Hertz, and includes 22 artists and artist groups who have created innovative works representing some of the newest trends in an increasingly globalized art world. Among the featured artists are Soun-gui Kim, Cai Guo-Qiang, Wang Qingsong, Tadasu Takamine, Hiroshi Fuji, Michael Lin, and Leung Mee Ping.

Major funding for the exhibition is provided by an Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. The exhibition is scheduled to run through March 6, 2005, at the San Diego Museum of Art before traveling to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (June 6-September 4, 2005) and the Hood Museum of Art (January 15-March 15, 2006).

Past in Reverse is a multifaceted exhibition showcasing cutting-edge artists working in a diversity of media—painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation, digital media—who use contemporary approaches to reflect their respective cultural and artistic backgrounds. Occupying several of the Museum's galleries, each artist's work is featured in a separate section while accompanying wall texts—in both English and Spanish—articulate how the artist is responding to historical precedents. By including recent, new, and commissioned works, the exhibition also serves as an introduction to the latest trends in contemporary East Asian art.

The artists and artist groups in the exhibition, listed here by country or region of origin, are:

China

• Cai Guo-Qiang (b. 1957 in Quanzhou, lives in New York), drawing/public events
• Cao Fei (b. 1978, born and lives in Guangzhou), photography
• Shao Yinong and Muchen (b. 1961 and 1970 in Xining and Lianong respectively, both live in Beijing), photography
• Wang Jianwei (b. 1958 in Sichuan Province, lives in Beijing), video
• Wang Qingsong (b. 1966 in Hubei Province, lives in Beijing), photography
• Yang Fudong (b. 1971 in Beijing, lives in Shanghai), video
• Yangjiang Calligraphy Group with Zheng Guogu, Sha Yeya, Chen Zaiyan, and Sun Qinglin (live in Yangjiang, Quongdong Province), mixed-media installation

Hong Kong

• Leung Mee Ping (b. 1961, born and lives in Hong Kong), video installation/performance
• Wilson Shieh (b. 1970, born and lives in Hong Kong), drawing

Japan

• Ryoko Aoki (b. 1973 in Hyougo, lives in Kyoto), drawing installation
• Hiroshi Fuji (b. 1960, born in Kyoto, lives in Fukuoka Prefecture), mixed-media installation
• Mitsushima Takayuki (b. 1954, born and lives in Kyoto), wall installation
• Tadasu Takamine (b. 1968 in Kagoshima, lives in Gifu), mixed-media installation
• Shizuka Yokomizo (b. 1966 in Tokyo, lives in London), video/photography

South Korea

• Flyingcity Urbanism Research Group (based in Seoul), interventions/mixed-media installation
• Yiso Bahc (1957-2004, born in Seoul), mixed-media installation
• Hee-Jeong Jang (b. 1969, born and lives in Seoul), painting
• Kim Young Jin (b. 1961 in Busan, lives in Seoul), video installation

Taiwan

• G8 Public Relations and Art Consultants Collaborative (based in Taipei), interventions/installation
• Hung Yi (b. 1970, born and lives in Taichung), sculpture and drawing
• Michael Lin (b. 1964 in Tokyo, lives in Paris and Taipei), painting

Accessing the past to map the future, these artists explore aesthetic and conceptual principles that are rooted in the arts and culture of their particular region. Whether they work in traditional genres such as painting and sculpture or newer technologies such as photography, video, and digital media, they assert their connection to Chinese, Korean, or Japanese culture through a variety of avenues.

For example, some artists like Wilson Shieh and the Yangjiang Calligraphy Group use traditional materials and techniques while others, like Cai Guo-Qiang and Soun-gui Kim, engage established religious iconography and philosophical ideas. Others, like Hiroshi Fuji and Cao Fei, explore interactions with the everyday physical world to reclaim endemic ways of seeing and being.

Another approach employed by certain artists is to reveal new views on their cultural history and interdependencies within the region by drawing on, for instance, craft-based methods (Ryoko Aoki, Tadasu Takamine), landscape and floral imagery (Michael Lin, Wang Qingsong, Yang Fudong, Hee-Jeong Jang), family histories (Kim Young Jin), or indigenous concepts of time and space (Soun-gui Kim, Shizuka Yokomizo, Mitsushima Takayuki). Still others address modern political histories and their impact on the individual and the construction of social relations and space in urban centers (Flyingcity, Wang Jianwei, G8).

The selection of artists presented in Past in Reverse reveal that in spite of cultural proximity, there is as much disconnect as common ground among artists from any particular region, placing into doubt the possibility of a regional aesthetic. What is clear is that as Asia continues to participate more wholeheartedly in the international art scene, it is slowly becoming more confident that its cultural impact, while not as influential as its economic one, is steadily growing.

Past in Reverse: Contemporary Art of East Asia is made possible in part by an Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. The Exhibition Award program was founded in 1998 to honor Emily Hall Tremaine. It rewards innovation and experimentation among curators by supporting thematic exhibitions that challenge audiences and expand the boundaries of contemporary art.

The local presentation is made possible in part by the generous support of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, the California Arts Council, and members of the San Diego Museum of Art.

Spanish language programs and materials are made possible in part by generous contributions from The James Irvine Foundation.

The historic San Diego Museum of Art provides a rich and diverse cultural experience for more than 400,000 annual visitors. Located in the heart of beautiful Balboa Park, the Museum's nationally renowned collections include Spanish and Italian old masters, South Asian paintings, and 19th- and 20th-century American paintings and sculptures. In addition, the Museum regularly features major exhibitions of art from around the world, as well as an extensive year-round schedule of supporting cultural and educational programs.

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