Into View: Bernice Bing
Discover the work of San Francisco-born, Chinese American painter Bernice Bing.
About the Artist
San Francisco native Bernice Bing (Lee Yu Bing, 李玉冰, 1936–1998) was an artist/activist whose work was rarely shown in her lifetime. A student of Richard Diebenkorn and Saburo Hasegawa, "Bingo" became a central figure in the Beat scene and later, a dedicated community organizer.
About the Artist
As a woman artist working on the West Coast, an Asian American, and a lesbian, Bing did not fit easily into the accepted categories of the mainstream. Her work reflected a lifetime of inquiry and introspection that included studying Zen Buddhism and Chinese calligraphy.
Self Portrait with a Mask (1960) by Bernice BingAsian Art Museum
Self-Portrait with a Mask (1960)
This rare self-portrait reveals Bing’s approach to figurative painting. In this early work, she depicts herself wearing a white mask that recalls the Japanese theater tradition Noh, a form of performance art based on stories of supernatural creatures becoming human.
The mask gives us clues as both a cover and a shield, embodying a sense of vulnerability, protection, and uncertainty.
Two Plus (1960)
Bing’s fluid manipulation of abstract and figurative gestures was influenced by her interaction with artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, and Joan Brown. This abstract painting’s central dark-red form recalls blood or a wound, though it is essentially abstract.
A Lady and a Road Map (1962) by Bernice Bing, American, 1936 - 1998Asian Art Museum
A Lady and a Road Map (1962)
As an active member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1960s, Bing blended representational forms with abstraction in this painting. The result is a subtle yet liberating union of body and gesture that conveys the sense of freedom and autonomy promised by the title.
The fleshy tones and red and white stripes in the lower left of this composition evoke a figure reclining on a blanket, while the greens and blues point to Bing’s expanding interest in landscape.
Figurative Abstract (1978-1979)
Bing regularly returned to painting the landscape as a spiritual exploration. As she stated, “All nature is pure, and purely abstracted; the spiritual union links both the seen and unseen forces of nature.”
Blue Mountain, No. 2 (1966)
Her landscape works were also informed by the dramatic expressions common to Chinese landscape painting. In Blue Mountain, No. 2, for example, hovering clouds transform massive mountains into floating islands.
Mayacamas IV, 4/10/63, Bismark Saddle (1963)
In other landscapes, like Mayacamas IV, Bismark Saddle, Bing depicts forms from specific landscape features; “saddle” is the term for the lower elevation between two mountain peaks.
In 1984, Bing studied for six weeks at the China Art Academy in Hangzhou with renowned abstract calligrapher Wang Dongling. The titles of several of these paintings suggest that Bing was imagining the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, one of the most influential Buddhist scriptures.
Lotus (1986–1988) by Bernice BingAsian Art Museum
Lotus (1986–1988)
Scholar Lin Ma has documented that Bing’s personal Buddhist practice was Nichiren—a Japanese form of Buddhism that takes its basic doctrine from the Lotus Sutra (妙法蓮華經).
Epilogue (1990/1995) by Bernice BingAsian Art Museum
Epilogue (1990–1995)
Painted while the artist was suffering from Lupus and other illnesses that led to her death in 1998, the title of Bing’s monumental Epilogue suggests that she envisioned it as a final commentary on the development of her work.
Some of the abstract clusters in Epilogue evoke figurative forms.
Other passages recall the artist's calligraphic inspirations: by this time, Bing had devoted many years to studying the formal, painterly aspects of Chinese calligraphy.
The divided black panel might refer to Bing's lifelong inquiry into spiritual and natural forces, representing the “gap” that both connects and divides.
An inventor of alternative narratives and a catalyst for her fellow artists to do the same, Bing also actively organized in her community; we find new relevance in how she and her fellow trailblazers inspired each other to challenge social ills. She left a remarkable legacy.
Artist Lenore Chinn on Bernice Bing
San Francisco artist Lenore Chinn discusses Bing's life and artwork in this interview for filmmaker Madeleine Lim's documentary "The Worlds of Bernice Bing." Photos courtesy of Lenore Chinn and the Asian American Women Artists Association.
Text by: Abby Chen and Nick Stone
Adapted from exhibition materials for Into View: Bernice Bing
on view Oct. 7, 2022 – Dec. 24, 2023 at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
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