liu xiaodong

In the Shadow of Mao

Xiaodong’s work includes oil paintings done in vivid colors and broad brushstrokes. His work is representational and usually comes from snapshots he has taken in towns throughout China of people doing ordinary things: eating, waiting, swimming, etc. His paintings do not hide the fact that they are from photographs and Xiadong often frames them the way his snapshots are framed, with limbs cut off where figures run off the canvas.