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Owen Duffy

@owieduffy

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Art historian, curator, writer. Nancy C. Allen Curator and Director of Exhibitions @asiasocietytx. Art and travel with @lauraa.burtonn.

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NOW OPEN! Yoshitaka Amano: Big Bang at Asia Society Texas. On view until February 7.

After moving to New York in 1997, Amano produced his Mozart series, a sequence of freewheeling paintings on gold-leafed panels, in which he scraped away the gold leaf to reveal the wood underneath. Working in his downtown studio, Amano listened to Mozart’s sonatas and symphonies, finding a sense of freedom from the deadlines of commercial work. Unfolding as a series, the Mozart panels center on a pale, ghostly muse with outstretched arms. She is flanked by attendants—perhaps other muses. Originating in Greek mythology, the muses were nine goddess sisters who spoke creativity into the minds of humans. Here, Amano channels the gilded, blinged-out worlds of Viennese modernists like Gustav Klimt, alongside the allegorical stylings of Art Deco, to envelop viewers in a resplendent, golden aura.

Courtesy the artist and @lomexgallery

Photos by Alex Barber

@yoshitaka_amano @lomexgallery @asiasocietytx #yoshitakaamano #asiasocietytx #asiasociety taken in Asia Society Texas Center by @owieduffy

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Opening tonight at Asia Society Texas in Houston, Yoshitaka Amano: Big Bang is a far-reaching survey of the artist’s work. The exhibition opens to the public today, September 23, with a celebratory reception at 6 p.m., and remains on view through February 7, 2027. Featuring approximately 40 works in oil paint, ink, and automotive paint, the exhibition brings together monumental paintings that explode with Amano’s signature, dreamlike visions of figures inhabiting fantastic, intricate, and intense environments.

Curated by Owen Duffy, the exhibition follows Amano’s two-part presentation at The Warehouse, Dallas, curated by Thomas Feulmer, which ran from April 11 through July 18, 2026.

Amano will also open Origins 始源 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York this Saturday, September 26. Curated by Noa Wesley, his first institutional solo exhibition in New York will remain on view through February 7, 2027.

Works Pictured:

Big Bang, 2018
Automotive paint on aluminum
59 x 204 3/4 x 4 in, 150 x 520 x 10 cm

Take off, 2006
Automotive paint on aluminum
78 ¾ × 157 ½ × 3 ⅞ in, 200 × 400 × 10 cm

#yoshitakaamano
#lomex by @owieduffy

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Coming soon to @asiasocietytx! Yoshitaka Amano: Big Bang opens to the public on September 23 from 6-8pm. Very excited to share this survey of 30 years of this icon’s painting practice—you’ll see there are practically three different artists in the show as Amano constantly reinvented his techniques and materials. For those of you who don’t know Amano, he honestly helped define the look and feel of the 1980s and ‘90s through his world-building artistic direction of anime and video games. Growing up, I escaped to play #FinalFantasy in my parents’ suburban basement, stepping into Gothic and sci-fi realms that directly emerged from his mind, and through his hand.

As I learned later in life, he is a serious contemporary artist in his own right, following a similar trajectory as #KeiichiTanaami and #TakashiMurakami. The funny thing is, Murakami, as his contemporary art star rose, he stepped increasingly into the commercial sphere; Amano did the opposite. In our exhibition are deeply personal works that Amano made only for himself.

In our moment of prompted image generation, chat bot slop, and fakery of all kinds, this is very human show, a vision of a future from the past. It is about the power of the line.

Hope to see you all next week at the opening!

Thank you to exhibition partner @warehousedallas (seamless colab!) and @lomexgallery for support.

@yoshitaka_amano #yoshitakaamano @tfeulmer #asiasocietytx taken in Asia Society Texas Center by @owieduffy

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13 days ago

This Friday, I finally had the opportunity to experience Undercurrents inside the @buffalobayou @thecistern

A heartfelt thank you to @klfarber and Trudy Smith for making sure I was able to visit the installation with one of the six visiting @epnex_fellows Artists @linying09 from Taiwan whom I’m currently mentoring.

As a lifelong Houstonian, there was something especially moving about experiencing an installation centered on connection inside a place that has quietly connected our city for generations. It reminded me that just as places carry stories forward, so do the people who care for them.

From December 2024 through June 2025, I had the privilege of serving on the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern Curatorial Committee alongside @owieduffy , Kelly Montana (Menil), @lesliemoodycastro and @artist_c_blay

Together, we reviewed artist nominations, evaluated proposals, listened to finalist presentations, asked questions, shared perspectives, and collectively made a recommendation to the Public Art Committee.

Every question, every perspective, every lived experience, and every voice around the table helped shape the final outcome.

I’ve always thought of collaboration like a recipe. Flour may make up most of the recipe, but without the pinch of salt, the final result changes. Some contributions are highly visible while others happen quietly behind the scenes—but every ingredient matters because each one influences the whole.

It was an honor to serve alongside such thoughtful professionals. The most meaningful things happen because artists, curators, committee members, staff, organizations, donors, and community partners each contribute something unique to the process.

Congratulations to @lozanohemmer Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, and everyone whose work—both visible and behind the scenes—helped bring Undercurrents to life. It was an honor to contribute to one chapter of its journey and a joy to finally experience what thoughtful collaboration can create. 🤍 taken in Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern by @owieduffy

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It’s the final weekend of Vian Sora: Outerworlds @asiasocietytx, and the final stop of our multi-venue tour. It’s been a pleasure collaborating with @viansora, @tylerblackwell, and James Glisson on this project over the past couple of years. Please get lost in these extraordinary details and surfaces, they must be seen in person. Thank you to @speedartmuseum and @sbmuseart! Perpetually in awe of the beauty Vian Sora forged out of war. #VianSora #asiasociety #asiasocietytx by @owieduffy

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Currently on view @asiasocietytx: Nevine Mahmoud’s alluring Fruit (Wet Chord), which weeps glass tears inside our Yoshio Taniguchi building. On view in Mahmoud’s exhibition Second Nature until October 2.

One of the artist’s earlier explorations in stone, Fruit (Wet Chord) emerged from a singular piece of orange calcite, a mineral often marketed for purported healing properties, and quarried in the United States. All of the fruits in the exhibition are embellished by such other materials as powder-coated stainless steel or glass. The result here is a radiating, oversized fruit that drips with liquid-like glass tears. Mahmoud understands the glass as a material compliment to the polished stone: each droplet is melted with a blowtorch, cooled, annealed, and then adhered to sculptural form.

Collection of Sarah Stoker. #NevineMahmoud #asiasociety #asiasocietytx taken in Asia Society Texas Center by @owieduffy

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3 months ago

Three views of @viansora’s magnificent painting, “Hanging Garden,” on view until August 2 @asiasocietytx.

The title Hanging Garden recalls one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the legendary gardens of Babylon said to have overflowed with lush greenery and cascading flowers. For Sora, the idea of a hanging garden also resonates with Baghdad, the city of her birth, where jasmine and other fragrant blooms once filled the air.

In this painting, forms seem to drip, climb, and cascade across the canvas, creating a sensorial atmosphere rather than a literal place. The greens pulse with vitality, while passages of red, gold, and blue carry a sense of fading memory and distance. The work embodies both the beauty of remembered gardens and the ache of longing for a home that cannot be returned to.

Hanging Garden suggests that painting itself can become a refuge: a way to summon atmosphere, scent, and memory, preserving the gardens of Baghdad even as they live most vividly in recollection.

Vian Sora: Outerworlds is co-curated with @tylerblackwell (@speedartmuseum) and James Glisson (@sbmuseart).

#viansora #asiasociety #asiasocietytx @thethirdlinedxb @bortolamigallery

Photos by Alex Barber taken in Asia Society Texas Center by @owieduffy

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“Triple Swell,” on view in @nevine_mahmoud’s exquisite exhibition “Second Nature” at Asia Society Texas. On view until October 2 in our Yoshio Taniguchi-designed building.

Nevine Mahmoud unearths uncanny worlds from stone: jumbo-sized fruits drip with glass, a contorted marble faun arcs like an acrobat, and children’s toys are immortalized in white alabaster. Though her subjects range from the luscious to the surreal to the playful, Mahmoud’s sculptures manipulate our understanding of nature. For Second Nature, Mahmoud’s works (including a new commission) are placed throughout Asia Society Texas’ public spaces. These works engage in a material dialogue with Yoshio Taniguchi’s elegant building, conceived as an ode to the architectural potential of stone. #NevineMahmoud #asiasocietytx #asiasociety #yoshiotaniguchi

Photo by Alex Barber taken in Asia Society Texas Center by @owieduffy

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Owen and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of healthy twin boys, Giacomo & Enzo. Thank you to the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for making parenthood possible. 🍼🇯🇵✨🇮🇹

Grazie Ei Arakawa-Nash 👶🏻 by @owieduffy

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Laura e Tiepolo taken in Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia by @owieduffy

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Tonight (Wednesday, May 6) we’re hosting the Houston launch @asiasocietytx for our beautiful catalogue for Hung Hsien: Between Worlds exhibition, which is currently on view @asiasocietyhk until the end of June! The event is from 6-8pm, with a conversation featuring the legend #HungHsien herself. There will be delicious treats on treats by @kincafetx. Hung Hsien loves the book, totally approves of the photo quality and design courtesy @infoandupdates, and hopes you might want to buy a copy : )

Also finally sharing some of these install shots from the Hong Kong show, which opened during the Basel maelstrom. Huge thanks to the HK team @chriswanfeng and @okayhain for making it such a memorable week. If you see the show in Hong Kong please send me pics! See you tonight 👋 #AsiaSociety #asiasocietytx taken in Asia Society Texas Center by @owieduffy

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So excited to share two new amazing projects opening @asiasocietytx on Wednesday, April 15!

The tempestuous painted worlds of Vian Sora will transport you. A mid-career survey for @viansora, organized in partnership with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Speed Art Museum (co-curated with James Glisson and @tylerblackwell). It’s the final stop on the tour, and we’ve expanded it with some top top loans from the Museum to Fine Arts, Houston and the Menil.

Then, @nevine_mahmoud has graced our Taniguchi-designed stone temple with her otherworldly stone sculptures. It’s earthly and heavenly and creates a material conversation with architecture that feels oh so perfect for our center. Though her subjects range from the luscious to the surreal to the playful, Mahmoud’s sculptures manipulate our understanding of nature.

Come celebrate these two artists with me on Wednesday from 6-8pm! All are welcome, just RSVP through our website : )

@bortolamigallery @thethirdlinedxb @sebastiangladstone #viansora #nevinemahmoud #asiasociety #asiasocietytx taken in Asia Society Texas Center by @owieduffy

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