The above statement by Chinese-born artist Hung Liu would raise the ire of many a Modernist, yet her voice demands and deserves to be heard from the so far uncharted territory of Postmodernism. Though no one definition will suffice to categorize the theoretical bases of Postmodernism, a major characteristic is contextual meaning based on a wide range of cultural, social, or political issues. Hung Liu addresses a number of these in her work - primarily issues of identity, marginality, feminism, sexism, and racism. Modernism, the theory of art predominant in the Western world after World War II until the 1970s, defined art in terms of formal properties and stressed the importance of art for art s sake. Though the term Postmodernism was first applied in the late 1970s to the non-abstract work of the time, in today's increasingly pluralistic society, Postmodernism represents a major departure from Modernism in terms of multiple, coexisting, and sometimes contradictory styles, subjects, and issues.
Modernism is about separating, dividing, sorting into categories, and building walls.
Postmodernism is about connecting, combining, erasing lines, taking down walls. A deliberate and acknowledged appropriation from other artists and styles is another attribute sometimes found in Postmodern works, as is the use of confrontation, satire, or humor. Barrett suggests that, in Postmodernism, artwork does not have a single meaning and that multiple interpretations are beneficial and the more perspectives we gain on a work of art, the richer and deeper will be our experience of that work. The art of Hung Liu, a contemporary artist born in China and now residing in the United States, exemplifies many of these characteristics of Postmodernism, as it is rich in content based on cultural, social, and political issues. Liu appropriates images from historical photographs to create paintings and mixed media installations from a bicultural, feminist perspective.