Having stayed under the radar until recently, the art of this huge continent is gradually coming into its own: with artists from nineteen Asian countries -from Japan, through Korea, to China; from South-East to Central Asia - this book offers an insightful overview of contemporary Asian art.A thermocline is the whirlpool which can be seen shooting from the water's surface when ocean waters experience a considerable change in temperature. Like the climatic phenomenon, Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves reveals what is lurking below the surface of Asian art. With works by 117 artists representing nineteen Asian countries from the Middle to the Far East, from Southeast to Near East and Central Asia, this book offers the first comprehensive overview of contemporary Asian art. Asian experts present internationally renowned artists working in the West alongside up-and-coming artists who still live in their home countries, from Kazakhstan to Korea. This broad panorama expands the boundaries of the Western concept of art: Asian art is contemporary and global, but also postmodern and post-ethnic, unveiling the potential conflicts of globalization and its effects on Asia.