Reception: Thursday, October 18, 5:30–7:30PM
Opening October 18, Rena Bransten Gallery (77 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94108) will present new paintings by Hung Liu inspired by Daughters of China (1949), a Ling Zifeng film based on the heroic actions of a group of women officers and soldiers during the Sino-Japanese War.
Rediscovering the film recently, Liu has reduced its essence to a series of powerful canvases occasionally edged by bands to mimic widescreen film format and further emphasize our remove from the original event. Liu’s empathetic response to the final moments of the women, as they carry a wounded comrade into the river to draw away enemy fire from the Chinese Resistance fighters, brings to the fore the theme of personal sacrifice. Although the source material constitutes a departure for the artist who more often draws inspiration from photographic images, the subject matter reflects her ongoing interest in memory, history, and the socio-political role of women.
Whilst the exhibition title refers to Ling Zifeng’s film, the paintings derive their titles from the lyrics of the Internationale, the nineteenth-century French anthem adopted by communists and socialists worldwide and used to this day. Its use also as a rallying song of the students and workers at the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 adds an additional layer to the political intent of these works. Viewed in the wider context of global affairs today, the paintings can be seen as a timely analysis of the cost of war in personal terms.
Liu was born in Changchun, China in 1948 and graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing. She emigrated to the US in 1984 to attend the University of California, San Diego where she received an MFA. Liu currently lives in Oakland and is a tenured professor in the art department at Mills College. She has had numerous solo exhibitions and her work is represented in major museum collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30AM to 5:30PM and Saturday 11:00AM to 5PM. For more information please visit our website at www.renabranstengallery.com.
