March 3 (chuang kai po) judgement of paris

• 
  
  
  
  •Title: Judgment of Paris
  •Artist: Hung Liu
  •Year: 1992
  •Media: Oil on canvas, lacquered wood,
  •Size: 72 x 96 x 4.75"
  •Born in China
  •Lives in Oakland (America)
  
  
  
  
  •composition
  -->two Chinese ladies standing beside the middle image of a late Qing-era porcelain vase with a scene of European women on the vase.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  •The two Chinese figures:
  -->They were standing in pink at both sides.
  -->They are painted from classical period “photographers of young Chinese prostitutes posed in fancy Western settings typical of the Victorian era.”
  -->These images came from around the 18th century
  -->The images “had been made by Chinese photographers to promote the services of such women among their countrymen.”
  
  
  
  
  
  •The Vase:
  -->It is a late Qing-era porcelain vase
  -->The vase is shown with a painting of a European-style mythological scene that includes two goddesses with their chest exposed, with one of them in nude and classic sitting back position.
  -->Such kinds of vases were made in 18th century China.
  -->They attracted Western men’s tastes and were exported to Europe for profit.
  

• 
  Faces
  -->Liu likes the old photographs—fade pictures of Emperors, their wives and mistresses
  -->They differed greatly with the Empire’s happy lively version of Chinese history.
  -->These sad faces resembled the reality of the Chinese women around her who suffered greatly without hope.
  -->Liu Hung said:“I communicate with the characters in my paintings, with respect, sympathy, and awe.”
  -->A woman escape from Chinese patriarchy or sexism; such as a traitor in the western world. -->Her personal experience was proof of the reality behind the propaganda.
  

• 
  feminist point of view:
  -->18th to 20th century cultural conflicts
  -->It is about prostitute in China and distorted history, sexism and feminism
  -->For her, she grew up in the Mao Regime, an individual’s rights were subordinated to the interests of the State. Educated Chinese citizens were forcibly "re- educated" as part of the disastrous Cultural Revolution.

• 
  Difference:
  -->differences between cultures & Hung Liu’s own values.
  -->Hung Liu is bicultural , combining East and West perspectives.
• 
  Identity: (Narrowly focused groups)

--> not “Asian Americans”--> but “Korean American”
--> not “women” --> but " lesbian feminists”
-->used by artists in the 1990s to portray gender issues

• decentralization :
  --> in the modern times we enjoy a more rich diversity of art forms
  -->the peculiar niches in the art world and increased diversity makes ìt harder to form bonds around artists’ views and needs.
  

• 
  Questions

•In her art work, traditional Chinese symbols such as costumes, patterns and objects mix with her painted images. What personal issues do you think she is trying to bring up to the audience?( such as identity)

•What is her purpose of turning old photographs into new paintings?

• 
  My opinion

•By including these different realities, she expresses her personal issues of being a woman, a Chinese immigrant, and an artist.

•In effect, Liu turns old photographs into new paintings, escaping from the conservative methodology of socialist realism. She has a free style painting technique that changes propaganda art into a fresh kind of historical picture. In her unique, she converts socialist realism into social realism.