One of China's most celebrated contemporary painters, Liu Xiaodong is best known for large-scale figurative works rooted in direct observation and lived experience. Born in Liaoning Province in 1963, he studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where he later became a professor. Emerging as a leading figure of Chinese contemporary realism in the 1990s, Liu documents the social and economic transformations of modern life through portraits and group scenes that capture communities undergoing political, environmental, and economic change.
Working from life rather than photographs, he creates portraits and group scenes that capture communities undergoing political, environmental, and economic change. Combining technical mastery with a deeply humanistic perspective, Liu's work emphasizes the dignity and complexity of ordinary individuals while exploring the broader forces shaping contemporary society.
Liu has been the subject of major exhibitions at institutions including the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark. Widely exhibited internationally, he is regarded as one of the most important painters to emerge from China in recent decades.
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