We Who Work: Prints and Tapestries by Hung Liu

Honor laborers past, present and future with vibrant portraits from Hung Liu alongside tools from Santa Cruz County workers and stories by Working for Dignity.

Exhibited from March 3, 2017 to June 25, 2017

Explore tapestries and mixed media prints by artist Hung Liu— one of the most renowned Chinese artists living in United States today.

Raised in China during the Cultural Revolution, Hung Liu creates vibrant portraits that honor workers– shoemakers, soldiers, farmers and more. Based on historical Chinese photographs, Liu’s prints and tapestries (many never seen before) not only celebrate workers (particularly women) but also expand the idea of what it means to “work.” Alongside Liu’s work will be tools from Community members and photos of local day workers from Working For Dignity artists Edward Ramirez and Leo Alas.

Hung Liu was born in Changchun, China in 1948, growing up under the Maoist regime. Trained in Socialist Realism, Liu studied mural painting at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing before immigrating to the US in 1984 to attend the University of California, San Diego. A two time recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in painting, Liu also received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Printmaking from the Southern Graphics Council International in 2011. Hung Liu lives in Oakland, and exhibits internationally. We Who Work presents a collection of prints, tapestries, and cast resin paintings Hung Liu created in collaboration with master printers at Paulson Bott Press, Magnolia Editions, and Trillium Graphics.