Liu Xiaodong born in 1963 in Liaoning, China. He lives and works in Beijing, China.

Liu Xiaodong is a contemporary Chinese artist best known for his involvement in the Neo-Realist movement in China during the 1990s. Throughout his painting practice, Liu explores the conceptual aspect of documenting the developing economy of China as well as, more recently, Egypt. “I like to find scenes that are part of life, of someone’s everyday existence and I choose places that interest me,” he has said. “When I paint someone, I want to capture their environment, their living state. I want to show the personal story behind the image of the person.” One of the artist’s main influences is the famed British painter Lucian Freud, who similarly produced stark paintings of figures without beautifying his subjects. He employs thick, luscious brushstrokes that emphasize the abstract nature of the medium while preserving a high degree of realism.

He studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing before attending the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Complutense in Madrid. Liu has shown with Lisson Gallery in London and Mary Boone Gallery in New York, and his works are also held in the collections of the Singapore Art Museum, the Shanghai Art Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.


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