We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All

2007

Artist

Hung Liu, Chinese, American, 1948-2021: Born: Changchun, China; Work Locations: Oakland, CA

Country

United States

Object

painting

Medium

oil paint on canvas

Accession Number

2010.474A-C

Credit Line

Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum

Hung Liu (United States), We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All, 2007. Oil paint on canvas, 80 x 240 inches. Denver Art Museum: Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum, 2010.474A-C. © Hung Liu

Dimensions

height: 80 in, 203.2000 cm; width: 240 in, 609.6000 cm; height: 80 in, 203.2000 cm; width: 80 in, 203.2000 cm

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Collection

Modern and Contemporary Art

This object is currently on view

Hung Liu uses the history of China and her childhood perception of the socialist Utopian dream as inspiration for paintings and installation. Liu reinvigorates her memories and illustrates her view of history as “always flowing forward.” "We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All" is a triptych depicting revolutionary women carrying a body. Each panel resembles a movie still, capturing the progression of movement and the changes in the composition. The paint drips and washed-out color, contrasted with blocks of red, yellow, maroon and black in the frame, suggest emotion and the notion of memory.
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Liu received a BA of Fine Art from Beijing Teachers College in 1975 and a graduate degree in mural painting from Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China, in 1981. She earned an MA of Fine Arts from the University of California, San Diego in 1986.