Existing comment:
Madonna
When Hung Liu visited the archives of the Beijing Film Studio in 1991, she came across several nineteenth-century photographs of prostitutes. The women, shown in formal studio settings with Victorian backdrops and props, were posed to solicit clients. Liu had no prior knowledge of this visual history and was shocked by her discovery. When she returned to California, she used one of the images as her basis for Madonna.
Here, a young Chinese prostitute stands in for the Virgin Mary. She is shown underneath a gold leaf halo, holding a bust of Cupid. Liu's searing subversion of the source photograph is a strategy she implements to make visible the strength of women. The reversal and reimagining of the historical circumstances that these women endured serve to highlight the Western objectification of Asian women and the post-colonial understanding of Chinese women as having control of their fate.
Oil on canvas, gold leaf, wood, and antique architectural panel, 1992
Estate of Esther S. Weissman |