Going Forward,Looking Back

Collective Works by Brenda Louie

September 2015 ,8 – October 2015 ,24 California State University, Sacramento, University Library Annex Gallery.

Going Forward Looking Back is an exhibition of two and a half decades of work by visual artist Brenda Louie. The exhibition’s selected works provide viewers with a reflective survey of Louie’s evolving styles, highlight-ing the breadth of her artistic practice. Evident in her diverse styles and the range of media with which she works, is a sense of restlessness in seeking to realize or pinpoint the underlying themes and intersections of aesthetics and theory that distinguish her native culture. This career-long focus has developed alongside an inter-est in communicating her experiences as a migrant artist who identifies borders in order to defy them.

This restlessness can also be found in Louie’s consummate formalism, as the viewer will note that it is difficult to categorize her work. Louie’s Chinese background and the imposing cultural history that accompanies it—a history of civilization and innovation spanning millennia—has provided endless inspiration for the artist while also motivating the refined technical details and laden concepts that are integral to her paintings and installa-tions. At the same time, Louie is well versed in the history of Western art and fully immersed in the develop-ment of contemporary art in the United States, where she has resided for decades and received advanced train-ing. Effortlessly merging divergent aesthetics to achieve new forms of signification and alternative pictorial structures, essentially challenging the traditional parameters of painting across East and West, Brenda Louie exemplifies the limitless vision of a twenty-first century hybrid artist.

The Farhat Art Museum is pleased and honored to support Going Forward Looking Back and its publication, and to have Brenda Louie’s work as part of its permanent collection.

—Naim Farhat, founder and director, Farhat Art Museum.

Beirut, Lebanon.

“Mapping of Memory Series – Foot Journey Series I,” mixed media, 84 x 180 in., 2010-1993.

This work was exhibited at Stanford Gallery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1993, Judith Weintraub Gallery, 1993, and at Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, California, 2001. Courtesy of Farhat Art Museum.

“Leaving Home Series, OP-III,”oil, and oil pastel on canvas, 84 x 192 in., 1995.

This work was shown at Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, 1995. Courtesy of Farhat Art Museum.

“Flowers from the Sky Series 007 ,006 ,005 ,004 ,003 ,002 ,001 :2015, and 008,” watercolor, graphite white Ink, and Chinese ink on linen paper, mounted on linen paper, each 10 x 14. in., 2015.

This series is inspired by the “cycle of life” concept. It is the beauty and celebration of any human success and the lamentation of loss; the fortunate and the misfortunate are viewed as an integral part of a complete life. Courtesy of University Library, California State University, Sacramento.

“The Voices of Lotus Lovers Series II,” oil on canvas, 66 x 119 in., 1991.

This work was shown and sold at Judith Weintraub Gallery, Sacramento, California, 1991. The painting was first acquired from a Northern California art auction house by Naim Farhat in spring 2010. Courtesy of Farhat Art Museum.

“Rivers United Series 02-2013,” acrylic on canvas,72 x 216 in., 2013.

This work was exhibited at Blue Line Gallery, Roseville, California, 2013. Courtesy University Library, California State University, Sacramento.

“Mapping of Memory – Foot Journey Series III,” mixed media, 84 x 180 in., 1993

This work was exhibited at Stanford Gallery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1993, Judith Weintraub Gallery, 1993, and at Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, California, 2001. Courtesy of Farhat Art Museum.

“Crazy City Series II,” oil on canvas, 68 x 96 in., 1990.

This work was inspired by the childhood experience of shifting from a remote village in Southern China to the cosmopolitan Hong Kong in 1963. It was exhibited at the Lincoln Art Center, Lincoln, California, 1992, and at Delta Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, California, 1997. Courtesy of Farhat Art Museum.

“Garden Series 101, Under Troubled Waters III,” oil on canvas, 66 x108 in., 2010.

This work was exhibited at James Kaneko Gallery, American River College, Sacramento, California, 2010. Courtesy of Farhat Art Museum.

“Sky Garden Series VIII,” oil on canvas, 96 x 66 in., 2011.

Courtesy of Farhat Art Museum.

Brenda LouieBiography

Born in 1953 in the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung, Brenda Louie is a California-based multidisci-plinary artist who has exhibited in local and international museums and galleries since the late 1980s, including the Crocker Museum of Art, the Monterey Museum of Art, the University of California Davis’ Nelson Art Gal-lery, and the University of California Berkeley’s Institute for East Asian Studies Gallery.

Louie holds a Master of Arts from California State University Sacramento (1991) and a Master of Fine Arts from Stanford University (1993). While at Stanford, she received her artistic training under esteemed contempo-rary artists such as the late Nathan Oliveira and was the recipient of the Gorden Hampton Fellowship, the Robert Mondavi Fellowship, and the San Francisco Foundation’s Edwin A. and Adalaine B. Cadogan Scholar-ship. Her work is housed in private and public collections in the United States, China, and the Middle East, nota-bly the Crocker Museum of Art in Sacramento, the University of California Davis, the China Academy of Arts in Hangzhou, and Ningbo University in China. Louie is a faculty member of the Art Department at California State University Sacramento, where she has taught studio art since 1996. She has held several residencies during her decades-long career at such institutions as Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, and Normal Univer-sity in Hangzhou, China.

Louie’s artistic practice is based on continuous experimentation and research, drawing from a wide range of artistic and scholarly sources, often vis-à-vis themes that reflect her diverse history. Prior to immigrating to the United States as an adolescent, she lived between a rural town in southeast China and Hong Kong and studied classical Chinese literature and calligraphy under her father, Lui Chiu Sheung, a Chinese scholar and calligra-pher, while also training in Chinese brush painting under Master Au Ho-Nine. She immigrated to the United States in 1972 and originally studied economics before rekindling her life-long interest in aesthetics. Although

her formative years in China were steeped in its centuries-old visual culture and traditional artistic practices, in the United States she was drawn to the fluid and spontaneous brushwork of Abstract Expressionism. Through the lessons of seminal American art movements, she began to work in conceptually driven approaches that emphasize the intellectual and philosophical connections of her bicultural training in painting. Consequently, as her work has evolved, she has become increasingly engaged in exploring diasporic narratives, frequently recall-ing her own experiences of a childhood spent amidst the sociopolitical turmoil and hardship that led to China’s 1961 famine, which spurred her migration at a young age.

A monograph on the work of Louie will be published in Fall 2015 with essays by art historians Mary-Ann Mil-ford-Lutzker (Mills College of Oakland), Elaine O’Brien, M.L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati (California State Uni-versity in Sacramento), Chris Daubert (Sacramento City College), Shaker Laibi, (University of Gabes, Tunisia), and Farid Zahi (University Institute of Scientific Research in Rabat, Morocco).

For more information, please visit www.brenda-louie.net

Brenda LouieBiography

Born in 1953 in the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung, Brenda Louie is a California-based multidisci-plinary artist who has exhibited in local and international museums and galleries since the late 1980s, including the Crocker Museum of Art, the Monterey Museum of Art, the University of California Davis’ Nelson Art Gal-lery, and the University of California Berkeley’s Institute for East Asian Studies Gallery.

Louie holds a Master of Arts from California State University Sacramento (1991) and a Master of Fine Arts from Stanford University (1993). While at Stanford, she received her artistic training under esteemed contempo-rary artists such as the late Nathan Oliveira and was the recipient of the Gorden Hampton Fellowship, the Robert Mondavi Fellowship, and the San Francisco Foundation’s Edwin A. and Adalaine B. Cadogan Scholar-ship. Her work is housed in private and public collections in the United States, China, and the Middle East, nota-bly the Crocker Museum of Art in Sacramento, the University of California Davis, the China Academy of Arts in Hangzhou, and Ningbo University in China. Louie is a faculty member of the Art Department at California State University Sacramento, where she has taught studio art since 1996. She has held several residencies during her decades-long career at such institutions as Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, and Normal Univer-sity in Hangzhou, China.

Louie’s artistic practice is based on continuous experimentation and research, drawing from a wide range of artistic and scholarly sources, often vis-à-vis themes that reflect her diverse history. Prior to immigrating to the United States as an adolescent, she lived between a rural town in southeast China and Hong Kong and studied classical Chinese literature and calligraphy under her father, Lui Chiu Sheung, a Chinese scholar and calligra-pher, while also training in Chinese brush painting under Master Au Ho-Nine. She immigrated to the United States in 1972 and originally studied economics before rekindling her life-long interest in aesthetics. Although

her formative years in China were steeped in its centuries-old visual culture and traditional artistic practices, in the United States she was drawn to the fluid and spontaneous brushwork of Abstract Expressionism. Through the lessons of seminal American art movements, she began to work in conceptually driven approaches that emphasize the intellectual and philosophical connections of her bicultural training in painting. Consequently, as her work has evolved, she has become increasingly engaged in exploring diasporic narratives, frequently recall-ing her own experiences of a childhood spent amidst the sociopolitical turmoil and hardship that led to China’s 1961 famine, which spurred her migration at a young age.

A monograph on the work of Louie will be published in Fall 2015 with essays by art historians Mary-Ann Mil-ford-Lutzker (Mills College of Oakland), Elaine O’Brien, M.L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati (California State Uni-versity in Sacramento), Chris Daubert (Sacramento City College), Shaker Laibi, (University of Gabes, Tunisia), and Farid Zahi (University Institute of Scientific Research in Rabat, Morocco).

For more information, please visit www.brenda-louie.net

Brenda LouieBiography

EDUCATION:M.F.A. Stanford University, Painting/Drawing/Art Installation, 1993M.A. California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), Painting/Drawing, 1991B.A. California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), Economics, 1982

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:2015 “Going Forward, Looking Back,” University Library Annex Gallery, CSUS, Sacramento, CA, Septem-ber- October2013 “Rivers United Series: New Works,” Blue Line Gallery, Roseville, CA, September-October2011 “Book of Zero Series VIII,” mixed media art installation, University Union Gallery, CSUS, Sacramento, CA, October-November2010 “Garden Series 101,” James Kaneko Gallery, American River College, Sacramento, CA. January-Febru-ary2008 “Cycle of Life Part IV,” Institute for East Asian Studies Gallery, UC Berkeley, CA, January2007 “Cycle of Life Part III,” Ningbo University, Ningbo, P.R. China, November “Cycle of Life Part II,” University Library Gallery, Sacramento, CA, October-November “Cycle of Life Part I,” Pence Gallery, Davis, CA October-November2005 “Living with Art,” Annual International Art Fair, Shanghai, P.R. China, May2004 “The Book of Zero Series: A Mixed Media Art Installation,” Richard L. Nelson Gallery, Art Department, UC Davis, CA, April 2 – May 212001 “Mapping of Memory – Mixed Media,” Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, CA, September

1999 “Brenda Louie - New Works," b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA, April-May1998 “The Rat Fest: An Art Installation,” Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento, CA, October1997 “Brenda Louie – Painting,” Delta Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA, February“Brenda Louie - Mixed Media,” Lambda Community Center, Sierra Health Foundation,

1996 “A Letter from Home: an Art Installation,” Davis Art Center, Davis, CA, October-November“Window - Inside, Outside: An Art Installation,” University Union Gallery, CSUS, Sacramento, CA, 1995 "Brenda Louie – Paintings," American River College Gallery, Sacramento, CA, March-April1993 "Some Light on the World – Mixed Media," Judith Weintraub Gallery, Sacramento, CA, October1992 "Reflections on Things at Hand III: An Art Installation," 1078 Gallery, Chico, CA, September-October"The Stanford Series: Drawings," Judith Weintraub Gallery, Sacramento, CA, September"Intuitive Beginnings: Paintings," Lincoln Arts Gallery, Lincoln, CA, December 1991-January 19921991 "Reflections on Things at Hand II – Mourning," mixed media art installation, New Works Awards Program Grant Show, Institute for Design and Experimental Art, "Brenda Louie - New Works," Judith Weintraub Gallery, Sacramento, CA, March1989 "Reflections on Things at Hand I – Mixed Media," New Works Awards Program Grant Show, University Student Union Exhibit Lounge, CSUS, Sacramento, CA,

A monograph on the work of Louie will be published in Fall 2015 with essays by art historians Mary-Ann Mil-ford-Lutzker (Mills College of Oakland), Elaine O’Brien, M.L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati (California State Uni-versity in Sacramento), Chris Daubert (Sacramento City College), Shaker Laibi, (University of Gabes, Tunisia), and Farid Zahi (University Institute of Scientific Research in Rabat, Morocco).

For more information, please visit www.brenda-louie.net

Brenda LouieBiography

EDUCATION:M.F.A. Stanford University, Painting/Drawing/Art Installation, 1993M.A. California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), Painting/Drawing, 1991B.A. California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), Economics, 1982

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:2015 “Going Forward, Looking Back,” University Library Annex Gallery, CSUS, Sacramento, CA, Septem-ber- October2013 “Rivers United Series: New Works,” Blue Line Gallery, Roseville, CA, September-October2011 “Book of Zero Series VIII,” mixed media art installation, University Union Gallery, CSUS, Sacramento, CA, October-November2010 “Garden Series 101,” James Kaneko Gallery, American River College, Sacramento, CA. January-Febru-ary2008 “Cycle of Life Part IV,” Institute for East Asian Studies Gallery, UC Berkeley, CA, January2007 “Cycle of Life Part III,” Ningbo University, Ningbo, P.R. China, November “Cycle of Life Part II,” University Library Gallery, Sacramento, CA, October-November “Cycle of Life Part I,” Pence Gallery, Davis, CA October-November2005 “Living with Art,” Annual International Art Fair, Shanghai, P.R. China, May2004 “The Book of Zero Series: A Mixed Media Art Installation,” Richard L. Nelson Gallery, Art Department, UC Davis, CA, April 2 – May 212001 “Mapping of Memory – Mixed Media,” Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, CA, September

1999 “Brenda Louie - New Works," b. sakata garo, Sacramento, CA, April-May1998 “The Rat Fest: An Art Installation,” Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento, CA, October1997 “Brenda Louie – Painting,” Delta Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA, February“Brenda Louie - Mixed Media,” Lambda Community Center, Sierra Health Foundation,

1996 “A Letter from Home: an Art Installation,” Davis Art Center, Davis, CA, October-November“Window - Inside, Outside: An Art Installation,” University Union Gallery, CSUS, Sacramento, CA, 1995 "Brenda Louie – Paintings," American River College Gallery, Sacramento, CA, March-April1993 "Some Light on the World – Mixed Media," Judith Weintraub Gallery, Sacramento, CA, October1992 "Reflections on Things at Hand III: An Art Installation," 1078 Gallery, Chico, CA, September-October"The Stanford Series: Drawings," Judith Weintraub Gallery, Sacramento, CA, September"Intuitive Beginnings: Paintings," Lincoln Arts Gallery, Lincoln, CA, December 1991-January 19921991 "Reflections on Things at Hand II – Mourning," mixed media art installation, New Works Awards Program Grant Show, Institute for Design and Experimental Art, "Brenda Louie - New Works," Judith Weintraub Gallery, Sacramento, CA, March1989 "Reflections on Things at Hand I – Mixed Media," New Works Awards Program Grant Show, University Student Union Exhibit Lounge, CSUS, Sacramento, CA,

A monograph on the work of Louie will be published in Fall 2015 with essays by art historians Mary-Ann Mil-ford-Lutzker (Mills College of Oakland), Elaine O’Brien, M.L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati (California State Uni-versity in Sacramento), Chris Daubert (Sacramento City College), Shaker Laibi, (University of Gabes, Tunisia), and Farid Zahi (University Institute of Scientific Research in Rabat, Morocco).

For more information, please visit www.brenda-louie.net

CREDITSSpecial thanks to…

Phil Hitchcock, director, CSUS University Library GalleryShow Installation and Lighting by Kevin Ptak

California State University, SacramentoPhotography by Gary Gordon

Naim Farhat, founder and director, Farhat Art Museum