Chen Liu: Retrospective Exhibition

Born in Kunming, Yunnan province in 1973 to family of artists, creativity is in Chen Liu’s blood. Chen started painting regularly in 1985. He graduated from Beijing’s renowned Tsinghua Fine Arts Institute in 1996. After graduation Chen returned to Kunming, where he has been painting as well as serving as a professor specializing in oil painting at Yunnan Art Institute.

Affected more by China’s opening to the rest of the world than by the turbulent politics of the 1970s, Chen first became interested in art via American comics and Japanese manga – influences that he blends with his interest in the supernatural and classical Chinese stories such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

As Chen sees it, the fringes of reality are infinitely more interesting than the middle of the road. “I like extremes,” he says “I can appreciate extreme beauty, such as the female form, but can also enjoy the ugliness of a gory scene in a horror flick.”

This exhibition showcases the best of Chen Liu’s series over the years. Chen’s paintings have been have been well received in China and the world and are featured in galleries worldwide.