Realistic painter Liu Xiaodong's works are on show at UCCA Edge, Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.

Visitors view paintings by Liu Xiaodong at the ongoing exhibition, Liu Xiaodong: Your Friends, at UCCA Edge in Shanghai. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The works of Liu Xiaodong, the Chinese realistic painter, are now on show at UCCA Edge in Shanghai.

The exhibition, titled Liu Xiaodong: Your Friends, showcases more than 120 of Liu's works, including his latest series, Your Friends. Subjects of the new series include writer Ah Cheng, China's "sixth-generation" cinema directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Yuan, as well as family members of the artist－his wife, Yu Hong, who is also a painter, and his mother and brother. The show, which started on Aug 8 and runs through Oct 10, is Liu's first solo exhibition at UCCA Edge, a facility of the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing.

As an artist, I have become more and more respectful of everyone and everything in front of me. It is my honor to paint them honestly

Liu Xiaodong, artist

Considered a pioneer in new realism painting in China, Liu became recognized in the 1990s "for his acute and lucid depictions of the minute changes he observed in different slices of China's rapidly urbanizing and developing society", according to the curatorial essay by Philip Tinari, UCCA director, and curator Fang Yan, both of whom are co-curators of Liu's show.

Fang also describes Liu as an artist who takes an immersive approach and documents the impact of social development, cultural conflict and migration on the lives of different people.

In 2010, Liu held the Hometown Boy exhibition at UCCA Beijing.

The showcase, which was an artistic exploration of his hometown in Liaoning province, marked the first time he revealed stories of his past on canvas.

Liu's paintings feature his friend and film director Wang Xiaoshuai. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Tinari, who was an art editor at that time, said he was deeply moved by the exhibition, which he described as an important page in UCCA history.

"Because of this exhibition, Liu Xiaodong came up as a natural candidate when we were considering the first-year exhibition plan for UCCA Edge last year," Tinari said at the preview of Liu's show on Aug 7.

The exhibition consists of three sections－a collection of Liu's previous works featuring his hometown Jincheng in Liaoning province; the Chinatown neighborhoods in Tuscany, Italy; and ship breaking yards in the port city of Chittagong in Bangladesh.

Liu was stranded in New York due to the COVID-19 pandemic and during his trip to the US-Mexico border he took to creating a series of watercolor portraits of his family and friends, and a series of still life and character studies. In the process of these works, "Liu took pleasure in painting with a narrative sensibility previously not found in his large-scale works, revealing a more personal and emotional side of his practice", write Tinari and Fang.

Liu's paintings feature his  mother. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Upon his return to China, Liu was invited by Tinari to hold an exhibition at UCCA Edge.

"UCCA is a very professional and an outstanding art museum," Liu says via video conference, before comparing the relationship between an artist and an exhibition institution to a "love affair".

"You would pour your heart out to a great partner. ... Ten years ago I poured my heart out to UCCA Beijing, and this time, I am doing it again (in Shanghai) for my hometown and my close friends."

For the third section of the exhibition, Liu created 10 oil portraits of those dearest to him in life and art. He started work on these pieces in October and completed them earlier this summer. Your Friends is a continuation of his series that was exhibited at UCCA Beijing, Liu tells China Daily.

"Ten years have passed and my friends are growing old and I want to present their looks in the latter half of their lives," he says.

In this cycle, "we see the subtle, nuanced power of the influence of familiar intimacy sustained by time, as the artist turns his attention toward those selected individuals with whom he enjoys the bonds of kinship, be it filial, fraternal, romantic, artistic or stylistic", write Tinari and Fang.

Liu's paintings feature his wife, Yu Hong. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Describing his work, Liu says:"All I paint are heroes. Each has a universe to himself (or herself), filled with the bittersweet experiences of his (or her) own life.

"As an artist, I have become more and more respectful of everyone and everything in front of me. It is my honor to paint them honestly. Also, it is because of painting that I and my friends of more than 30 years can still hang out together, not just for drinking or eating, but for some real business."

Liu has been close friends with several prominent filmmakers in China since their school years. In 1993, Wang Xiaoshuai made the fictional feature The Days, which starred Liu and Yu, in which many of the life details of the couple portrayed were genuine. Liu has since that experience taken Wang's advice to not "chicken out" in front of the camera, and thus became accustomed to having his work process filmed.

Also on show is Your Friends, a 99-minute documentary film on Liu's visits to his hometown, the intimate moments among friends, and the creation process of their portraits. The film was produced by Yang Bo, who has collaborated with Liu on multiple occasions.

"I would voluntarily let the film steal my thunder at the exhibition," says Liu.

"Audiences go through a lot of trouble coming to my exhibition. I would love to provide them more perspectives to experience the artwork."

If you go

Liu Xiaodong: Your Friends

Aug 8-Oct 10. UCCA Edge, 2F, 88 Xizang Road North, Jing'an district, Shanghai.

021-6628-6861

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn