Jen Liu Explained

Jen Liu
Nationality:	American
Field:	Visual Art
Training:	Oberlin College, California Institute of the Arts
Awards:	Creative Capital, Guggenheim Fellowship

Jen Liu (born 1976) is an American visual artist.^{[1] [2]} She works with video, performance, and painting and creates pieces about labor, economy and national identity.^[3] She was awarded a Guggenheim and a Creative Capital award.

Education and career

She received a BA from Oberlin College,^[4] and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts,^[5] and is a full-time faculty member at Bennington College.^[6] Liu is represented by Upstream Gallery.^[7]

Works

Liu's work explore labor and gender. Her 2016 video, The Pink Detachment, is a reinterpretation of The Red Detachment of Women (1970), a Model Opera ballet from China’s Cultural Revolution.^[8] It premiered at the Berlinale Forum Expanded exhibition.

Her Pink Slime Caesar Shift series contains videos and animations that tell a story of female factory workers in South China altering the DNA of cow cells to transmit messages.^{[9] [10]} Liu was awarded grants for this series from Creative Capital, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It was featured in a solo exhibition at Upstream Gallery.

Awards

Liu has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (2017),^[1] NYFA Fellowship,^[11] Los Angeles County Museum of Art Art+Technology Award (2018),^[12] a Creative Capital Award (2019),^[13] and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant.^[14]

Solo exhibitions (selection)

2020

• Jen Liu + Aleksandra Domanovic, MAK Center for Art + Architecture in collaboration with LACMA, Los Angeles
• Jen Liu, ARIEL Platform for Feminist Art, Copenhagen
• GOLD LOOP, solo commissioned video, curated by Christina Millare, funded by the British Arts Council

2019

• PINK SLIME CAESAR SHIFT: GOLD EDITION, commissioned choreographic performance and installation, curated by Renan Laruan as part of the Singapore Biennale 2019

2018

• PINK SLIME CAESAR SHIFT, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam

2017

• The Red Detachment: Bai Wei’s Natural History¬, solo commission by

OK.Video/ruangruppa, Bogor Zoology Museum, Bogor2016

• Digital Billboard Platform: Jen Liu’s The Pink Detachment, LAXART, Los Angeles
• The Red Detachment of Women: Online, commissioned by Triple Canopy as part of the Standards issue
• Utopia is No Place, Utopia is Process - Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Bennington Vermong
• The Pink Detachment, 66th Berlinale, Berlin

2015

• The Red Detachment of Women: Performance for 6 Dancers, co- commissioned by Triple Canopy and The Whitney Museum, Whitney Museum, New York

Notes and References

1. Web site: John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Jen Liu. en-US. 2019-02-17.
2. Web site: Christopher Miles on Jen Liu. www.artforum.com. en-US. 2019-02-17.
3. Web site: Machine Dreams and Painting's Extremes: Matthew Weinstein on Jonathan Lasker and Jen Liu. Weinstein. Matthew. 2016-03-10. ARTnews. en-US. 2019-02-17.
4. Spring 2015. Class Notes. Oberlin Alumni Magazine.
5. Web site: Jen Liu Awarded 2018 Art+Technology Lab Grant From LACMA. 24700. 9 July 2018 . en-US. 2019-02-24.
6. Web site: Jen Liu Bennington College. www.bennington.edu. 2019-02-17.
7. Web site: Jen Liu. upstreamgallery.nl. 2019-02-17.
8. Web site: Premiere: The Pink Detachment by Jen Liu. upstreamgallery.nl. 2019-02-17.
9. Web site: LACMA Names 2018 Art+Technology Lab Awardees. www.artforum.com. en-US. 2019-02-17.
10. Web site: PINK SLIME CAESAR SHIFT - Jen Liu. upstreamgallery.nl. 2019-02-17.
11. Web site: NYFA Announces 2017 Fellows. www.artforum.com. en-US. 2019-02-17.
12. Web site: LACMA Names 2018 Art+Technology Lab Awardees. www.artforum.com. en-US. 2019-02-17.
13. Web site: Creative Capital Names Winners of 2019 Awards. Greenberger. Alex. 2019-01-15. ARTnews. en-US. 2019-02-17.
14. Web site: Search Detail. www.pkf-imagecollection.org. 2019-02-17.