East West Bank Art Terrace Opens at Asian Art Museum

On Oct. 2, 2023, East West Bank and the Asian Art Museum are pleased to officially “cut the ribbon” for the museum’s recently completed East West Bank Art Terrace. Made possible by a generous $5 million gift from East West Bank, the 7,500 sq. ft. terrace is San Francisco’s newest and most expansive outdoor platform for experiencing important contemporary art installations by local and global Asian and Asian American artists.

This October also marks East West Bank’s 50th anniversary, a milestone for the museum’s longtime partner. The Bank was founded as — and remains — a community-centered financial institution whose philanthropic impact across the art world includes sponsorship of capital projects and major exhibitions at LACMA, MOCA, the Getty, the Huntington Library, Bowers Art Museum, the Broad, and more.

“From our roots in the Asian American community, we have grown to become the largest independent bank headquartered in Southern California, with a mission — serving as a financial and cultural bridge — that has remained the same for 50 years,” says Dominic Ng, Chairman and CEO of East West Bank. “Whether connecting people and businesses within our communities or across the Pacific, we are deeply committed to supporting diversity through the arts. Like the Asian Art Museum, we believe passionately that art can be a cultural bridge to help nurture understanding and build a more inclusive future for all.”

With views out over the cityscape, the East West Bank Art Terrace is a destination for connecting with friends, dining al fresco, and enjoying performances alongside large-scale sculptures and commissioned installations. The terrace’s first exhibition features three contemporary artists who represent a geographically diverse range of Asian heritages and whose eclectic, compelling works possess some surprising California connections:  

• Forged by one of the last neon studios in the Bay Area, Taotie (2022) by Kongkee (b. 1977, active Vancouver) is an eye-catching sculpture in pink neon inspired by ancient Chinese works in the museum collection. 
• Pinaree Sanpitak’s  (b. 1961) elegantly minimalistic Breast Stupa Topiary (2013/2019) offers a feminist reimagining of Buddhist commemorative monuments that suggests the Thai concept of rang-gai — seeing the body as a site where the physical and spiritual intersect.  
• Commissioned for the Art Terrace, Luminous Ground (2018/2020) by Berkeley-born Ala Ebtekar (b. 1978, active San Francisco and Tehran) features 1,000 ceramic tiles — made of clay from California’s Central Valley by a Fresno-based, Japanese American family — spangled with sunlight-exposed cyanotype images of galaxies from the Hubble telescope, reminiscent of celestial blue Persian ceramic glazes in our collection.

“The transformed Asian Art Museum offers something for all, and the opening of the East West Bank Art Terrace is the capstone on this multiyear project,” says Jay Xu, the Barbara Bass Bakar Director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum. “Like a domestic courtyard or urban plaza, the terrace is now the central gathering point at the museum, offering a breath of fresh air as well as an opportunity to spend time with a local artist or creator at a program that renews our perspective on life in an increasingly diverse city and country. Thanks to this generous gift, our ever-growing museum community can refresh, reconnect, and experience moments that will become treasured memories.”

Monday, October 2, 2023 – Public Celebration

Join East West Bank and the Asian Art Museum on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to enjoy drinks, light bites, and a live DJ while exploring some of the museum’s biggest works of art yet. Tickets may be reserved on the museum’s website, asianart.org.

The museum’s new blockbuster exhibition Takashi Murakami: Unfamiliar People – Swelling of Monsterized Human Ego will also be open during these special visiting hours.

About East West Bank

East West Bank provides financial services that help customers reach further and connect to new opportunities. East West Bancorp, Inc. is a public company (NASDAQ: “EWBC”) with total assets of $68.5 billion. The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the largest independent bank headquartered in Southern California, and operates over 120 locations in the United States and in Asia. The Bank’s markets in the United States include California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Washington. For more information on East West Bank, visit www.eastwestbank.com.

About the Asian Art Museum

Located in the heart of San Francisco, the museum is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Asian art, with more than 20,000 awe-inspiring artworks ranging from ancient jades and ceramics to contemporary video installations. Dynamic special exhibitions, cultural celebrations and public programs for all ages provide rich art experiences that unlock the past and spark questions about the future.

####