Yeewan Koon


Yeewan Koon is a Hong Kong-based art historian, curator, and academic specializing in late imperial and modern Chinese art, contemporary Asian art, and Japanese contemporary art. She is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History at the University of Hong Kong, where she also serves as Associate Dean of Global. She is a prominent scholar of Yoshitomo Nara and author of a 2020 book on the artist.

Early life and education

Koon was born in Hong Kong and lived in Yuen Long in the New Territories before moving to the United Kingdom with her family at age six, growing up in Holloway, North London. She graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where she studied Asian art history.
In 1996, Koon moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She completed her PhD under the supervision of Chinese art historian Jonathan Hay.

Academic career

University of Hong Kong

Koon joined the University of Hong Kong in 2005, with a brief to revitalize the Chinese and Japanese art history courses.
She has served as Chair of the Department of Art History since 2019 and was appointed Associate Dean of Global in 2023. During her tenure, she established the MA Programme in Art History and has developed strategic student exchange partnerships with institutions in Singapore, Vietnam, and Scotland.

Teaching recognition

Koon has received numerous awards for her teaching, including the HKU Outstanding Teacher Award, the University Grants Committee Teaching Award —given to the most outstanding teacher across all universities in Hong Kong—and the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.

Research and publications

Books

Koon is best known for her monograph on Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, published by Phaidon Press in 2020. The book has been translated into Japanese and Korean and is considered the definitive scholarly work on the artist. In interviews about the book, Koon explained that her goal was to "tell a compelling story that challenged that myth of simplicity" surrounding Nara's work and to "tease out themes that are often left out of narratives on Nara." Nara himself has credited Koon's interview process for the book as influential in helping him conceptualize his own exhibitions in new ways.
Her other books include:
Koon's peer-reviewed publications include:
  • "Marks and Manifestations: Religious Art by Su Renshan " in China 1800: Visual and Material Culture, British Museum Press
  • "Where Are We Now? M+ and the Uncertain Future of Hong Kong" in October Vol. 180
  • "A Chinese Canton? Painting the Local in Export Art" in 18th Century Art Worlds: Global and Local Geographies, edited by D. Sloboda and M. Yonan, Bloomsbury Academic
  • "The Dilemma of Disciplines: HK art and visual culture" in Podium, M+ Stories
  • "Narrating the City: Pu Qua and the Depiction of Street Life" in Qing Encounters: Artistic Exchanges Between China and the West, edited by Petra ten-Doesschate Chu and Ding Ning, Getty Publications
  • "The Art of Tales: Qing Novels and Paintings by Su Renshan " in Rethinking Visual Narratives in Asian Art: Intercultural and Comparative Perspectives, edited by Alexandra Green, Hong Kong University Press
  • "The Face of Diplomacy in Nineteenth Century China: Qiying's Portrait Gifts" in Narratives of Free Trade: The Commercial Cultures of Early American Chinese Relations, edited by Kendall Johnson, Hong Kong University Press
  • "Lives and Afterlives: Luo Ping's Guiqu tu " in Orientations Vol. 40

    Curatorial work

Koon has curated several significant exhibitions:
Her co-curated section "Faultlines" at the 2018 Gwangju Biennale examined how systems of power manifest in daily decision-making, featuring artists including Byron Kim and Luke Ching exploring infrapolitics. The section was described as "brilliantly curated" and included Yoshitomo Nara's Tobiu, one of his most political works to date, as well as Aernout Mik's video installation Double Bind.

Professional service

Koon serves on the boards and advisory committees of major Hong Kong art institutions:
She is also a member of the International Association of Art Critics.

Honors and fellowships