Hung Liu
dal 30/4/2003 al 7/6/2003
Segnalato da
30/4/2003
Hung Liu
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco
'Toward Peng-Lai' - toward paradise. Known for paintings drawn largely from Chinese historical photography, Liu's new works display a greater focus on what she calls the 'mythic poses' that underlay the photographic surfaces of history. Representing such elemental human activities as laboring, eating, journeying, leaping, fighting, dreaming, and carrying one's burden, these 'mythic poses' come from particular Chinese circumstances, but seem epic, trans-historical, and allegorical in the new works.
Towards Peng-Lai (Paradise)
During the month of May, the Rena Bransten Gallery will present new paintings by
Hung Liu in an exhibition called "Toward Peng-Lai" - toward paradise. Known for
paintings drawn largely from Chinese historical photography, Liu's new works
display a greater focus on what she calls the "mythic poses" that underlay the
photographic surfaces of history. Representing such elemental human activities
as laboring, eating, journeying, leaping, fighting, dreaming, and carrying one's
burden, these "mythic poses" come from particular Chinese circumstances, but
seem epic, trans-historical, and allegorical in the new works. With an overlay
of traditional Chinese birds, flowers, insects, dragons, and - most recently -
stylized human figures, Liu offers her subjects artistic evidence of their own
rich heritage - as if to remind or comfort them.
Also included will be a series of small, framed paintings of individual children
- "The Baby Paintings." Each portrait has been culled from a single group
photograph of Chinese girls attending a mission school in the late 19th century.
In effect, Liu turns old photographs into new paintings, liberating the rigid
methodology of socialist realism - the style in which she was trained - as an
improvisational painting style that dissolves the photo-realism of propaganda
art into a fresh kind of history painting. She converts socialist realism into
social realism.
Liu was born in Changchun, China in 1948, growing up under the Maoist regime.
She emigrated to the US in 1984 to attend the University of California, San
Diego, where she received her MFA. She currently lives in Oakland and is a
tenured professor in the art department at Mills College. Her work is included
in many major museum collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art,
The Walker Art Center, The Dallas Museum of Fine Art, The Spencer Museum of Art,
and, locally, The San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and M.H. de Young Memorial
Museums.
Reception: Thursday, May 1, 5:30 - 7:30pm
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30 to 5:30, Saturdays 11 to 5.
Slides and photographs are available upon request. For additional information,
please visit our website.
Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street
San Francisco