What a genius—not only did he paint well, but he also acted in movies and won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival


Liu Xiaodong

was born in Jincheng, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province in 1963,

, received a bachelor's degree in oil painting from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1988. He received a master's degree in oil painting from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1995 and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Compludense University of Madrid from 1998 to 1999.

began to participate in the Chinese independent film movement in 1990.

starred in "The Days of Winter and Spring" in 1992, which was rated as one of the 100 classic films of the world cinema by the British BBC.

1993 The film "Beijing Bastard" served as art director.

In 2006, he planned the film "East", which won the European Art Association and the Italian Documentary Association Awards.

In 2006, he planned the film "The Good Man in Three Gorges", which won the Golden Lion Award at the 63rd Venice Film Festival in Italy.

Liu Xiaodong's "Mountains and Rivers"

oil on canvas, made in 2019

300 × 250 cm/ 118 1/8 × 98 1/2 inches

was in 2003 when the city was empty, and I was still in the air during SARS. I drew the "Three Gorges" series. This year the new coronavirus has spread throughout China, and so has the situation. Since I made a promise a year ago, I left China and drew the "Tom's Family" series in the United States. Seventeen years later, these two epidemic viruses stood before me like twin brothers. The time between the two seems to have been cleared, and it is difficult to distinguish them immediately. I am lucky to be able to touch this uncertain world with a brush, and I don’t want to leave the plants and trees I have painted.

—— Liu Xiaodong (February 10, 2020)

Liu Xiaodong's "Boundary River"

oil painting canvas, made in 2019

250 × 300 cm / standing on the balcony 98 1/2 × 2 118 1/8 inches empty New York, it looks a lot like Beijing. My imagination became crazy until there was not enough space to imagine. This world is more dramatic and absurd than I thought. After careful consideration, the world is also functioning normally.

-Liu Xiaodong (March 27, 2020)

Liu Xiaodong, "Tom, His Family and His Friends"

oil on canvas,

98 1/8 zzzz 250 × 300 cm in 2020,

z0 98 1/8 zzzz 250 × 300 cm In more than a month, the coronavirus swept the United States. Almost all flights back to China have been cancelled. I lived in a small apartment in New York. Fortunately, it has a balcony. what can I do? To be honest, I can't do anything. Every day I opened my eyes to read the news, and then the phone remained in my hand until I went to bed. How did the world achieve this? The wall on the border between the United States and Mexico was built to prevent refugees from crossing the border, but now it is Mexicans who want to seal the border and prevent Americans from crossing the border. Sino-US relations are very complicated, and politics and economy directly affect people's real lives. The concept of globalization has been seriously questioned. We have lived in a globalized system for a long time, and changes in each region will affect changes in other regions, and even affect everyone's mood. If globalization collapses, each country acts alone, and communication comes to a halt, what kind of future will it be?

—— Liu Xiaodong (March 27, 2020)

Liu Xiaodong "Police in the Park"

oil on canvas, made in 2019

250 × 300 cm / 98 1/2 × 118 1/8 inches

I am standing at the EAGLE PASS golf course, and the border river between Mexico and the United States is by my side. A year ago, I was on the other side, standing next to a man with a "Made in Mexico" head tattoo. When I saw the United States, I saw this golf course. I sat in Tom's yard, looked around, and looked at the almost finished painting. I didn't want to leave it. I have become more and more familiar with every plant and tree here because I have stroked them with a brush countless times. I have been painting this work for more than a year. No matter what this project means in today's uncertain world, painting is still fiddling. I think the world will become docile once touched by a brush. After painting, the difficult and unfamiliar world in front of me became softer and smaller.

-- Liu Xiaodong (2020 February 10)