CHICAGO — The DePaul Art Museum explores the construction of mixed-heritage Asian American identity in the United States with “War Baby/Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art,” which opens April 25.

“It gives visibility to the increasingly mixed generation coming of age by highlighting artworks that map personal biography and the construction of mixed heritage Asian American identity against U.S. and transnational histories,” said Laura Kina, exhibit curator. Kina is a Vincent de Paul Professor and founding member of Global Asian Studies at DePaul University, where she also is an associate professor of art, media and design in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

An opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. April 25 at the museum, located at 935 W. Fullerton Ave., just east of the CTA’s Fullerton ‘L’ stop. The museum is free and open to the public every day. The exhibition runs through June 30.

“Through traditional media as well as video, installation and other approaches, artists explore a range of topics, including U.S. wars in Asia, multiculturalism and identity politics, racialization, gender and sexual identity, citizenship and nationality, and transracial adoption,” said Kina. She co-edited a book of the same title with Wei Ming Dariotis, an associate professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University.

Artists featured in the exhibition include Mequitta Ahuja, Albert Chong, Serene Ford, Kip Fulbeck, Stuart Gaffney, Louie Gong, Jane Jin Kaisen, Lori Kay, Li-Lan, Richard Lou, Samia Mirza, Chris Naka, Laurel Nakadate, Gina Osterloh, Adrienne Pao, Cristina Lei Rodriguez, Amanda Ross-Ho, Jenifer Wofford and Debra Yepa-Pappan.

In conjunction with the exhibition, a number of programs will be held at the museum to encourage a dialogue on the topics. Programs include:

● “The Woman, The Orphan, and the Tiger,” April 29, 6 to 8 p.m. Film screening and discussion with Danish filmmaker Jane Jin Kaisen on international transracial Korean adoption.

● Mequitta Ahuja Artist Talk, May 15, 6 to 8 p.m. Ahuja, who is known for her large-scale figurative paintings and drawings, refers to her work and method as “automythography,” a constructive process of identity formation in which nature, culture and self-invention merge.   

● Mixed race Asian American art and identity panel discussion, May 29, 6 to 8 p.m. Curator Laura Kina, author Camilla Fojas and artists Chris Naka and Debra Yepa-Pappan.

A full list of programs and events related to the exhibition is online at http://museums.depaul.edu/news/calendar/.

For more information about this traveling exhibition and the related publication, visit http://www.warbabylovechild.com.

This is the DePaul Art Museum’s second year in its new home. The museum is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 773-325-7506 or visit http://museums.depaul.edu.

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