selfportraitsofcolor: Hung Liu / 刘虹, b. China, 1948A Third WorldUS (1994)Oil on canvas and gold
selfportraitsofcolor: Hung Liu / 刘虹, b. China, 1948A Third WorldUS (1994)Oil on canvas and gold leaf on woodSanta Barbara Museum of ARt Hung Liu / 刘虹Golden GateUS (1994)Oil on canvas, wood flower[Source] Wikipedia says: Hung Liu (刘虹) (born February 17, 1948) is a Chinese-born American contemporary artist. One of the first Chinese artists to establish a career in the West, Liu is regarded by many as “the greatest Chinese painter in the US.” Liu’s paintings typically feature layered brushstrokes combined with washes of linseed oil which gives the imagery an indistinct and drippy appearance. Various commenters have suggested that this visual strategy’s surrealism and its absence of Socialist political drive can be seen as the opposite of (or a rejoinder to) the rigid academicism of the Chinese Socialist Realist style in which Liu was trained. It has also been characterized as a metaphor for the loss of historical memory: the dripping in Liu’s paintings is described by art critic Bill Berkson as “analogous to memory” and how “[memory] is blurred.” Given the pathos that often infuses her works, her painting style has been described by Liu’s partner, critic and curator Jeff Kelley, as a kind of “weeping realism.” Liu’s paintings and prints often make use of anonymous Chinese historical photographs, particularly those of women, children, refugees, and soldiers, as subject matter. Many are drawn from the artist’s personal collection of 19th century Chinese photographs, a large portion of which feature prostitutes. Liu believes her paintings “gives a spirit to them, the forgotten.” -- source link