On Father’s Day, we are posting a painting titled “Father’s Day” by Chinese American artist, Hung Liu (1948 – 2021).
Hung Liu was born in Changchun in northeast China in 1948 during the revolutionary era when starvation and panic were prevalent in the region. In September of that year, Liu’s family fled the city in search of food, crossing into Communist territory. Liu’s father, Xia Peng, was detained by Communist troops at a checkpoint outside Changchun. Her father was imprisoned for his involvement in anti-Communist politics. Liu would not see him for more than forty years.
In 1994, Liu learned that her father was still alive and living on a rural work farm for elderly inmates near Nanjing, China, where he had lived for many years. By coincidence she traveled there to meet him on Father’s Day. She learned that he had been imprisoned on and off since 1948.
Liu created this painting based on a photograph of her father and herself taken on that day.
Image: “Father’s Day”, 1994, Oil on canvas, architectural panel, 54”x 72”
Summoning ghosts : the art of Hung Liu Oakland Museum of California. Liu, Hung, 1948-2021 招魂 Berkeley : University Of California Press, 2013. 216 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. English 2013. HOLLIS number: 990136645170203941
