Week 11 — Artist OTW — Student Choice
Artist: Liu Xiaodong
Media: painting
Website: https://www.lissongallery.com/artists/liu-xiaodong
Instagram: n/a
About the artist
Liu Xiaodong, a Chinese artist, was born in 1963 in Jincheng, China. He currently lives and works in Bejing; however, he would participate in projects in Tibet, Japan, Italy, the UK, Cuba, Austria, and China. Before becoming a professional artist, he earned his BFA and an MFA in painting from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. He then continues his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Complutense, Madrid, Spain. Xiaodong has worked on many solo projects and collaborations with museums. He is well-known for his brushwork, rich color, and distinct techniques. As a painter, he likes to paint his subjects in their natural environment. A lot of his paintings focus on global issues such as population displacement, environmental crisis, and economic upheaval. All his paintings focus on reality and use the environment as an inspiration. Xiaodong likes to capture real moments because he believes that things should be how they really are. Although a scene may not seem much, Xiaodong uses selective colors to show strong emotions for his audience.
Formal Analysis
Liu Xiaodong is known for his brushwork, rich color, and distinct techniques. Looking at his work, none of his paintings have perfect lines or have smooth areas; however, this gives his artwork a lot of meaning and texture. You can see each individual strokes his brush created when painting. Although Xiaodong does not paint details in his artwork, the brushstrokes give it a lot of texture. I can see that he used a thick layer of paint by seeing each brushstroke and the shadow it creates. The colors used in his work are not bright, but Xiaodong uses a large variety of colors. Besides painting, he uses a different technique in a few of his artworks. He photographs a scene. Instead of painting the whole photograph, he only paints the human in it. The background is left untouched. Although the background is more detailed and realistic, it still captures the audiences’ attention to focus on the human. There is always a lot of things that are in each painting.
Content Analysis
A lot of Liu Xiaodong’s artworks are a captured moment of the real world. For example, “East” is an art piece that shows how people are earning a living in the East. During the 21st century, you would expect machines to be doing heavy-duty work such as mining. In the East, some people must mine by hand. It portrays a strong message about the East’s economic upheaval. Xiaodong does not use any bright colors in this picture and it creates a sad and negative feeling. I can see how each brushstroke creates a lot of emotion in this artwork. As a viewer, I am emotionally moved. I wonder if the artist went to the mines to get this inspiration or did he search it up on the internet? In other artworks, he covers other global issues such as population displacement, environmental crisis, and economic upheaval. For example, “Crazy Mess #3” is an oil painting of an old man lying on the floor. If you look closely, you can see the man’s nose bleeding. Reading the title and looking at the picture, I can see that Xiaodong is trying to express the idea of population displacement. It is a really moving artwork because there are a lot of details and the emotions each brushstroke expresses.
Synthesis/Experience
Liu Xiaodong is a talented artist. He uses his artwork to express strong messages about global issues. I am really inspired that he uses his talent and platform to inform and inspire other people. I am also impressed by how each brushstroke can mean so much. The colors he uses has simply built a lot of emotion about the picture. All of Xiaodong’s artwork is nice to look at and is also interesting when you look closely at all the details. Although I am not studying art, I also want to create awareness on different issues around the world.
