Art Museum
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Closed Sunday & Monday
Admission: Free
Centennial Complex
2111 East Willett Drive
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-6622
Email: uwartmus@uwyo.edu
Paying homage to a population and history that has all but disappeared, The Vanishing: Re-presenting the Chinese in the American West is comprised of vintage photographs and contemporary works by Hung Liu and Rene Yung. The result is a powerful exploration of cultural memory and loss that underscores the conceptual basis of the exhibition.
Painter Hung Liu uses vintage photographs as inspiration and reference for her paintings. For this exhibition, photographs of the Chinese in late 1880s Idaho offered a rich source for creating new images that straddle Eastern culture and Western history. Organized by the Sun Valley Art Center in 2005, the University of Wyoming Art Museum's exhibition has been expanded and deepened by Liu. In her exploration of this subject, she has created three new paintings based on the Chinese in Wyoming who settled in Evanston and Rock Springs. The reference images from the American Heritage Center that served as reference and inspiration for the new work are included in the exhibition along with the existing series of vintage prints from Idaho.
Many Chinese workers came through Idaho and into Wyoming as workers on the first trans-continental railroad, the Union Pacific. Some settled here as a result and become successful business owners and community members. Rene Yung's installation work, nges and disappearance (2004), pays homage to the many Chinese who became laundryman and service workers in the developing West. Using soap as a primary material, her installation is comprised of bars of soap, each stamped with the word "remember," as a poignant expression to recall the history and contributions of these early settlers.
Gallery Talk: Hung Liu, Fri., Sept. 15, 10 - 11:30 am
Open Forum: Hung Liu, Fri., Sept. 15., 1: 30 - 4:30 pm
Art Talk: Hung Liu, Sat., Sept. 16, 11 am
Images:
Left: Hung Liu, China Mary, 66" x 66", oil on canvas, photo by Benjamin Blackwell
Center: China Mary, Ca. 1930, Kodak RC print, 5 x 3-1/2 inches, Uinta County Library Collection #6629, courtesy of the American Heritage Center
Right: Hung Liu, China Mary II, 36" x 24", oil on canvas, 2006, photo by Benjamin Blackwell
Art Museum
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Closed Sunday & Monday
Admission: Free
Centennial Complex
2111 East Willett Drive
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-6622
Email: uwartmus@uwyo.edu