About This Exhibition

Hung Liu: Migrant Stories features paintings and prints by contemporary artist Liu. Based on the iconic photographs of Dust Bowl and Depression-era artist Dorothea Lange, Liu’s works depict families and children devastated by the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Although dealing with heartbreaking subject matter, Liu’s works are beautifully vibrant–each feature loose, fluid layers of color, with central figures that almost seem to glow. The exhibition asks viewers to consider not only suffering, injustice, and displacement, but also the possibility of human resilience. WAM is pleased to exhibit Hung Liu: Migrant Stories at the same time as we present Dignity vs. Despair: Dorothea Lange and Depression-Era Photography, 1933–1942, an exhibition that includes several of the photographs that inspired Liu.

Oil painting of a woman holding a baby with a small child looking over her left shoulder.

Hung Liu, Migrant Mother, II, 2016. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 inches. Private collection