Across a Sprawling Continent, Across the Centuries
The annual Asia Week New York has the festive hum of a big art fair, but is somewhat more challenging to navigate: its 40-plus shows take place at galleries all over the Upper East Side, and there’s often enough in a single exhibition to hold your attention for hours. Home in on a particular region or bring a stopwatch and make it a cross-continent marathon; the choice is yours. What’s below is just a sampling, based on works that could be seen early this week; a more comprehensive list is at asiaweekny.com and jada-ny.org and in free guides that can be picked up along the way.
South Asia
Buddhas from Mongolia and Nepal are at Kapoor Galleries (1015 Madison Avenue, at 78th Street), where they accompany an excellent selection of miniatures. In an 18th-century painting Krishna shelters his followers from torrential rains by lifting a mountain and balancing it on his pinkie finger. It’s a graceful image and it speaks to the huge, unwieldy but thoroughly gratifying umbrella that is Asia Week.
