Going home – Painting change in Liu Xiaodong’s hometown

By He Jianwei

Liu Xiaodong, one of the country’s top painters, travels far and wide to find subjects, often painting them at his “on-site studio”: an easel and canvas.

In his paintings, Liu explores social issues such as the environment, urbanization, poverty and wealth, personal and cultural identity, and familial and gender relationships.

His most recent destination was his hometown, where he stayed four months to paint people and landscapes this July.

It was his first trip home since he left for Beijing some 30 years ago. While it may have been an easy trip physically, the spiritual return was an experience far more difficult.

“This time, I’ve decided, I’m really going home.”

Liu scrawled these words on the wall of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) at his latest solo exhibition last Wednesday. The emotions surrounding his return were complex: one part excitement and another part fear.

Liu has traveled and painted many places – Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan and Taiwan – but he had never painted his hometown.

Guo Xiaoyan, the vice director of Minsheng Art Museum, decided to change this by inviting Liu to present an exhibition of new paintings at UCCA.

“Without this exhibition, I don’t think I would have ever painted my hometown. It’s hard not to feel awkward when faced by friends and relatives,” Liu said.

Time to return – Leading artists assemble to define contemporary art

By He Jianwei 

The China Avant-Garde Exhibition, held at the National Art Museum of China 21 years ago, was the first time many in the West saw contemporary Chinese art.

Critics of the day called it the final curtain for the ’85 New Wave Art Movement, a vague period of time in the mid-’80s when Chinese Avant-Garde emerged.

In the years since, these artists have won attention with their exhibitions abroad and have broken auction records around the world.

Last year, 21 representative artists from various periods and schools of the last 30 years were assembled for the first time at the newly founded Contemporary Art Academy of China.

These leaders returned to the museum last Wednesday to show their latest paintings, sculptures and installations in an exhibit which is itself the history of China’s contemporary art.

A giant stainless steel sculpture of a laughing man welcomes visitors at the front gate of the National Art Museum of China. The face – its mouth open and eyes closed – has become a dominant icon in the paintings and sculptures of creator Yue Minjun.

That sculpture is part of The Constructed Dimension: 2010 Chinese Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, a collection of the last 30 years of development in Chinese contemporary.

More than 70 works by 20 artists are on display. Their oil paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs each represent a different area of contemporary art.