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Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art acknowledges it resides on the ancestral territory of the Osage, Kaw, and Otoe-Missouria, among other tribal nations forcibly moved to the region such as the Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) nations. We recognize and support the continued vibrancy of Native communities and cultures today who continue to thrive, as well as the inherent sovereignty of tribal nations. We are compelled to serve and advocate for these communities in accordance with our public mission.

Kemper Museum acknowledges and respects the diversity of Native people connected to this land today. Many recognize the land and all beings who live within it as relatives. We acknowledge the earth we inhabit, the waters of the Blue River, the Kansas River, the Missouri River, and the plants, animals, and people supported by them. 

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The exhibition Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu is the first comprehensive survey of the artwork of Hung Liu—one of the most prominent Chinese painters working in the United States today. Featuring paintings, as well as personal ephemera such as photographs, sketch books, and informal painting studies from private and public collections around the world, the exhibition celebrates Liu's career accomplishments and includes work completed in China before the artist arrived in the U.S. The exhibition explores the evolution of Liu's artistic practice, and investigates the complex interactions between individual memory and history, and documentary evidence and artistic expression, among other themes.

Born in Changchun, China, in 1948, a year before the creation of the People's Republic of China, Liu lived through Maoist China and experienced the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Trained as a social realist painter and muralist, she came to the United States in 1984 to attend the University of California, San Diego, where she received her MFA. One of the first people from mainland China to study abroad and pursue an art career, she moved to northern California to become a faculty member at Mills College in 1990, and has continued to live and work in the Bay Area. She has exhibited internationally at premier museums and galleries, and her work resides in prestigious private and institutional collections around the world. Hung Liu currently lives in Oakland and is a tenured professor in the Art Department at Mills College.

The exhibition was organized by the Oakland Museum of California.

Hung Liu, (Chinese, b. 1948)
 Mu Nu (Mother and Daughter), 1997,
 oil on canvas
 80 x 140 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri,
 Museum purchase, 1997.22a–b
 © Hung Liu. Photograph courtesy of Gamma One Conversions

Installation view of title wall for Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu, October 10, 2014–January 11, 2015.
 All works © Hung Liu

Installation view in the Charlotte and Crosby Kemper Gallery of Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu, October 10, 2014–January 11, 2015.
 All works © Hung Liu

Installation view in the Charlotte and Crosby Kemper Gallery of Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu, October 10, 2014–January 11, 2015.
 All works © Hung Liu

Hung Liu, (Chinese, b. 1948)
 Passage, 1999
 oil on canvas
 80 x 110 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the R. C. Kemper, Jr. Charitable Trust, 2004.6
 © Hung Liu.

Hung Liu, (Chinese, b. 1948)
 A Third Eye, 1993
 oil on canvas with inset wood
 91 x 55 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Gift of Hung Liu and Jeff Kelley in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 2014.6
 © Hung Liu

Exhibition Preview

Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu

Hung Liu, (Chinese, b. 1948)
 Mu Nu (Mother and Daughter)(detail), 1997,
 oil on canvas
 80 x 140 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri,
 Museum purchase, 1997.22a–b
 © Hung Liu. Photograph courtesy of Gamma One Conversions