Liu Xiaodong
Slow Homecoming
9.6. – 18.8.2018

In co­ope­ra­ti­on wi­th the NRW-Fo­rum Düs­sel­dorf, the Kunst­hal­le Düs­sel­dorf is pre­sen­ting the world’s first re­tro­spec­tive by the Chi­ne­se pain­ter Liu Xiaodong. The dou­b­le ex­hi­bi­ti­on tit­led “Slow Home­co­ming” fea­tures pain­tings as well as pho­to­graphs and films by the ar­tist, one of the most fa­mous re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ves of con­tem­pora­ry art in Chi­na.

In his oeu­vre, Liu Xiaodong shows mo­ments and sto­ries from hu­man li­fe as well as si­tua­ti­ons and land­scapes wi­th an out­stan­ding im­me­di­a­cy and ex­tra­or­di­na­ry em­pa­thy. A fa­mi­ly, a re­fu­gee boat, farm la­bo­rers, or the red light di­strict—his sub­jects are va­ried, and the ca­su­al brush­strokes and in­ten­se co­lors lend them a gre­at li­ve­li­ness and cap­ti­vat­ing rea­lism. As an ar­tist he is com­mit­ted to the un­re­stric­ted va­rie­ty of cul­tu­res and the di­ver­si­ty of sub­jec­tivi­ty, which has oc­ca­sio­nal­ly led him to co­me in­to con­flict wi­th the sys­tem.

Liu Xiaodong on­ly de­picts what he sees wi­th his own eyes, smells wi­th his own no­se, and hears wi­th his own ears. At the be­gin­ning of each work, he spends ti­me wi­th the sub­jects in their dai­ly li­ves be­fo­re por­tray­ing them. This par­ti­ci­pa­to­ry di­men­si­on of his ar­tis­tic prac­tice, which has ta­ken him to Ti­bet, Thai­land, Ja­pan, Ita­ly, the United King­dom, Cu­ba, Ice­land, Ne­pal, and Green­land, and so­on al­so Ber­lin, is ac­com­pa­nied by jour­nal no­tes and pho­to­graphs. In ad­di­ti­on, along­side his pro­jects, he crea­tes films that ap­proach the va­rious to­pics from the per­spec­tive of the mo­ving image.

The ar­tist en­coun­ters the stran­ger wi­th the ut­most open­ness, so as not to suc­cumb to the de­cep­ti­on of clichés or pre­for­med opi­ni­ons. He is a pain­ter of mo­dern li­fe who ad­dres­ses the ques­ti­on of the hu­man con­di­ti­on as well as glo­bal is­su­es that are di­rect­ly lin­ked to it such as de­mo­gra­phic shifts, en­vi­ron­men­tal cri­sis, and eco­no­mic uphea­val.

The re­tro­spec­tive dou­b­le ex­hi­bi­ti­on “Slow Home­co­ming” aims to pre­sent the enor­mous com­ple­xi­ty of Liu Xiaodong’s work. The Kunst­hal­le Düs­sel­dorf will of­fer an over­view of his pain­ting, and the NRW Fo­rum will fo­cus pri­ma­ri­ly on his pho­to­gra­phy.

The ex­hi­bi­ti­on is cu­ra­ted by Heinz-Nor­bert Jocks in co­ope­ra­ti­on wi­th Alain Bie­ber and Gre­gor Jan­sen.

Please find here the catalogue of the exhibition.