WASHINGTON, DC.- The Georgetown University Art Galleries opened two new exhibitions for the Spring season: Hung Liu: Happy and Gay, curated by Dr. Dorothy Moss and Georgetown graduate students, on view in the Maria and Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery; and CLoving: Photography from the Georgetown Collection, curated by undergraduate students in collaboration with Prof. Ian Bourland, in the Lucille M. and Richard F.X. Spagnuolo Art Gallery. The exhibitions will be on view from January 17- April 13, 2025.
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Hung Liu: Happy and Gay presents a selection of oil paintings and prints from a 2011-12 series by Hung Liu, the renowned Chinese American artist (born Changchun, China 1948 - died Oakland, California 2021). The images adapt and subvert Maoist propaganda cartoons that were published during the 1950s in small booklets for children in China. In the series, Liu revisits cartoons of her youth that were published in children’s books and primers (known as xiaorenshu). Like the Dick and Jane readers circulating in the United States during the postwar era, the illustrations were used in China to socialize children by instilling values such as hard work, family unity, and patriotism. Liu’s reformulation of this palm-size historic childhood imagery into large scale, richly-painted contemporary canvases not only turns mass-produced illustrations into paintings but also raises questions at the intersection of ideology, propaganda, and education. Liu invites viewers to think critically about the words and images that shape our collective identities, challenging us to reimagine them, a form of rewriting history. As she often said, “history is a verb. It is constantly flowing forward.”
Former Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery and current Director of the Hung Liu Estate, Dr. Dorothy Moss shares her excitement and connection to the work of Hung Liu. “Working with Georgetown graduate students on Hung Liu’s Happy and Gay series has led to new research about Hung Liu’s practice, especially her sourcing of archival materials, from photographs to children’s books to ancient Chinese illustrations. It is a pleasure to present this understudied body of work with the students and to offer new interpretations and scholarship on this groundbreaking contemporary artist.”
The Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections houses a growing collection of nearly four thousand photographs. For the Spagnuolo Gallery’s exhibition CLoving: Photography from the Georgetown Collection, a team of six student curators were prompted to find a throughline in these works, many of which have never before been exhibited. Throughout the curatorial process, they returned time and again to the idea of shared humanity, a concept that brings together the thirteen photographs featured in this exhibition.
Spanning the last century, the works offer a vibrant, albeit limited, view of the era. From quiet conversations on a park bench to the inescapable energy of a Beatles concert, these scenes capture a range of experiences that define human connection to one another. CLoving captures the touch, musicality, laughter, intimacy, and gratitude that lie at the heart of each image; and exemplifies how photography can transcend its role as mere documentation.
“We know these moments not because we were there but because we have lived versions of them ourselves,” observe the student curators.
Prof. Ian Bourland reflects on the students work: “These emerging curators faced a real challenge, engaging thousands of photographic works in a matter of months. I was impressed by how clearly they established their vision, finding points of connection with the past that resonate in new ways for their generation.”
As the recently appointed Director and Chief Curator of Georgetown University Art Galleries, Jaynelle Hazard shares in the enthusiasm about the upcoming shows: “These exhibitions reflect the extraordinary talent and determination of Georgetown University students and faculty. Hung Liu’s work invites us to critically examine the narratives that shape our collective identity, while CLoving highlights the profound connections captured through photography. Together, the exhibitions exemplify just how powerfully art can bridge past and present, and we’re so pleased to share them with our community.”
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