Honolulu Museum of Art to celebrate Chinese American artist Hung Liu

The Honolulu Museum of Art has added to its collection of Asian artworks by Chinese contemporary artist Hung Liu, who blends the idealistic, Socialist Realism style of the Mao era with the tragic realities of the period in a style dubbed “weeping realism.”

The museum has acquired three of her works, “Reverie,” “Temple School” and “Imperial Pillar,” from the estate of longtime museum supporter Joyce Stupski. Works on loan from the collection of Ella Qing Hou and J. Sanford Miller, the Turner Carroll Gallery and the Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer will also be on display.

“Reveries: The Art of Hung Liu” opens Aug. 18 and continues through May 28.

Liu, who came to the U.S. in 1984, portrays marginalized figures in China, mostly women, children, workers, refugees, prostitutes and soldiers, with a near photographic sharpness, then adds washes and broad brushstrokes to create a dripping effect reminiscent of crying.

For more information, go to ­honolulumuseum.org.