Existing comment:
South
The black-and-white photograph by Dorothea Lange that served as Hung Liu's source for this portrait shows a group of children in the Mississippi Delta in 1936. A girl sits on the edge of a run-down wooden porch while two boys stand nearby. By omitting the boys and portraying the girl in a dignified manner, Liu radically changed the image.
South reflects the artist's sustained interest in bringing the lives of women and girls to the fore, a fundamental aspect of her hopeful vision. Although she describes her feminism as coming from China and the strong women in her own family, Liu is often invited by feminist activists in the United States to advocate publicly for women and girls. At the San Francisco Women's March, held in 2017, Liu delivered a powerful speech, in which she said, "The story of America . . . is a story of desperation, of sadness, of uncertainty, of leaving your home. It is also a story of courage, of sacrifice, of determination, and -- more than anything -- of hope."
Oil on canvas, 2017
Collection of Marcy and Richard Schwartz |