Remembering Hung Liu, A Portraitist Who Memorialized The Invisible

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/25/ [login to see] /hung-liu-painter-national-portrait-gallery
National Portrait Gallery curator Dorothy Moss and artist Hung Liu got together more than a dozen times over the past few years, often at Liu's studio in Oakland, Cal., to try to figure out what to put in a major retrospective of the artist's work, opening at the museum this Friday.

Liu was 73 when she died earlier this month, only weeks after being diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. She had a prolific career, punctuated by international shows, and prestigious fellowships and awards, so selecting 50 or so works from the thousands of possibilities was daunting.

"Oh my gosh, how are we going to narrow this down?" Moss asked aloud during one of her meetings with the artist, which she recorded for posterity and shared with NPR. Liu agreed, chuckling: "I know!"