Liu Xiaodong
For his first exhibition in the UK, the Lisson Gallery invited Liu Xiaodong - one of China's foremost artists and a painter of international stature - to produce a new body of work in London. Over a period of six weeks, Liu Xiaodong documented his encounters with Londoners, much as he has done previously, while living and painting among residents of Tibet, Japan, Italy, Cuba and Israel. Focusing on three local businesses, two pubs and one Middle Eastern coffee shop, Liu produced one near-lifesize oil on canvas and eight acrylic photo-paintings (mixing photography and painting) at each location. Liu's London residency was documented by filmmaker Sophie Fiennes, whose complementary portrait of the artist at work is included with this catalogue as a DVD.