M+ opens “Myths and Monsters”: 400 works of Asian fantasy

The M+ museum in Hong Kong opened the exhibition “Myths and Monsters”: The Fantastic Aesthetics of Asian Art on 17 October. It brings together more than 400 works from the 19th to the 21st century that show how fantasy has shaped Asia's visual culture and its global influence.

The exhibition is divided into four sections that connect traditions rarely studied together. The first focuses on folkloric roots: deities, ghosts and supernatural creatures that have been used to transmit philosophical teachings and wishes for protection and prosperity. It includes ukiyo-e prints, Chinese shadow puppets, Tibetan Buddhist thangkas and popular objects.

The second part starts with postwar European surrealism. Asian artists who lived in Paris, such as Pang Xunqin and Okamoto Tarō, adopted that absurd visual language to respond to destruction and social upheaval. The exhibition places their works alongside those of Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, as well as Asian artists such as Kim Hwan-ki, Bhupen Khakhar and Koga Harue.

The third section explores the rise of East Asian pop culture after the Second World War. This is where Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka's 1952 manga, and the 1954 film Godzilla come in. The exhibition looks at how these fantastic worlds opened up spaces to talk about loss, social change and hope. Key creators of manga, anime and video games are also highlighted.

View of the exhibition “Myths and Monsters”: The Fantastic Aesthetics of Asian Art.thepaper.cn

The final section focuses on the present: visual artists, designers, architects, moving image creators and digital culture practitioners who respond to anime culture. Their works address shifting identity, technological anxiety and the reinvention of myths.

During the exhibition, the M+ cinema will screen a selection of animated works.

From a Tibetan thangka to a frame from Astro Boy in the same visit: it is exactly the kind of exhibition that reminds us anime did not come from nowhere. Which piece would you like to see up close? Tell us in the comments.