Asia Talks with Artist Hung Liu

Seattle Art Museum, September 2020

Seattle Art Museum, September 2020

This interview was conducted for the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Gardner Center for Asian Art just eleven months before the artist’s passing in Aug 2021.

Learn about the art and experiences of Chinese contemporary artist Hung Liu in this virtual artist talk. Hung Liu immigrated to the U.S. as a young adult to attend art school. Her life and artwork offer some incredible perspectives on identity and migration, especially in the way she brings together China’s past with American experiences. While the Asian Art Museum remains closed, the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas continues to offer thought-provoking virtual events featuring prominent contemporary artists speaking on some of today's most pressing topics. Our hope for this series is that the work and words of the artists can help to sustain us through this difficult time.

Hung Liu was primarily a painter who worked with photography as part of her practice. Her work also included shaped canvases for painting that are assembled to create 3-dimensional work. She was a Professor Emerita at Mills College, where she began teaching in 1990. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC organized a large-scale retrospective exhibition of her work in August 2021, titled "Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands, 1968-2020." hungliu.com

Laila Kazmi worked with SAM's Gardner Center to organize and host this talk. She is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker, a producer, and co-founder of Kazbar Media. _ Find upcoming events from the Gardner Center for Asian Art & Ideas visitsam.org/gardnercenter