| LIU Xiaodong |
Battlefield Sketches: The New Eighteen Arhats Shakyamuni Buddha instructed eighteen Arhats to live in the human world eternally and guide all sentient beings towards the path of Enlightenment. For the exhibition, Liu first lived on a military base in Beijing to paint life-size portraits of nine soldiers, then came to Kinmen to paint nine more portraits, he is the first artist ever to enter both sides' military camps. All eighteen paintings of young vibrant youth in camouflage will be exhibited in a former military classroom for BMoCA, with two blank canvases alluding to Mao and Chiang, the two leaders that largely determined the fates of both banks during the 20th century. In hopes that the young soldiers of this generation cease to be "war machines" and might become "true emissaries of peace," Liu humanizes them with his life-size portraiture and, by exhibiting the paintings together, symbolically bridges the Strait. Born in 1963 in Liaoning Province, China, Liu received a Masters in painting from the Central Institute of Fine Arts, Beijing, where he has been teaching since 1995. Considered the most important painter today in China, Liu has participated in international exhibitions including the 47th Venice Biennale, the Shanghai Biennale, The Asian Art Exhibition, 1997; Post-China New Art, 1989, and Liu Xiaodong: Retrospective, 1990-2000, which exhibited in Beijing and San Francisco. |
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