A Cultural Revolution

Liu Xiaodong (born 1963) is China’s top realist figure painter, widely celebrated for his ability to capture nuances of mood. He was associated both with the “New Generation” figurative realists, who broke away from their academic socialist-realist training, and with the “Cynical Realists,” who turned a sardonic eye on society in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Liu paints ordinary people, presenting them sympathetically and with an eye for the absurdity of everyday existence. In protest against the speculators buying up his works, Liu painted directly on the gallery walls for his 2006 “Domino” exhibition, only to whitewash them at the show’s close.