Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands

Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) - The City University of New York (CUNY)

Author Dorothy Moss will present on Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands, a catalogue of the stunning work by the late contemporary Chinese American artist Hung Liu (1948-2021), who blended painting and photography to offer new frameworks for understanding portraiture in relation to time, memory, and history. Often working from photographs, Liu used portraiture to elevate overlooked subjects, amplifying the stories of those who had historically been invisible or unheard. This richly illustrated book examines six decades of Lius painting, photography, and drawing. Having lived through war, political revolution, exile, and displacement, Liu painted a complex picture of an Asian Pacific American experience. Her portraits speak powerfully to those seeking a better life, in the United States and elsewhere.