Liu Liu was born in Shenyang in 1990. He graduated with a Masters from the Printmaking Department of Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in 2018.
During his graduate studies at the Department of Printmaking at CAFA, Liu Liu initially chose watercolor painting to prepare the drafts for his print works but soon discovered that this painting technique was the true medium for his artistic expression. Over the years, he developed and perfected a unique method and process of painting. His incredible attention to detail and his sensibility to composition, color, and ambiance enable him to conceive and create exquisite watercolor paintings unlike any other of the same medium.
Liu Liu's work is a continuous search for beauty, infused with his pondering of aesthetics, religion, and philosophy. In his artistic practice, these inner contemplations are externalized into cityscapes, natural scenery, minimalistic interiors, and grand architectural structures, all projected onto pieces of watercolor paper minutely sized at just 18 by 26 centimeters. These small works reflect Liu Liu's enormous awe of nature and his sensitivity to subtlety and nuance. He effectively conveys the atmosphere and ambiance in captured moments of time and space.
Over the past two years, he has begun experimenting on canvas, attempting to apply the same unique watercolor techniques on canvas while preserving the visual effects of watercolor. He focuses on exploring the texture and aesthetic beauty of light, as well as the emotional quality of this illumination, achieving a delicate balance and captivating atmosphere in landscape and interior scenes under various subtle lighting modes.
1990 in Shenyang, China
2018
MFA, Printmaking Department, China Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China
2013
BFA, Printmaking Department, China Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China
2023
Morning Dusk Evening Dawn, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2022
Days of Haze, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2020
Light, Air and Emotion, FlipPOP, Shanghai
2024
Shanghai Calling, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
2023
Worlds on Paper II, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Aurora, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2022
First Light, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Fifty Shades of NUAN, Once Gallery, Beijing
2021
Electric Picnic, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Nomination Exhibition of Watercolor Paintings of Chinese Young Artist, Qingdao Art Museum, Qingdao
2020
Worlds on Paper, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2019
Summer Wave, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2018
MFA Graduation Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, China Academy of Fine Art, Beijing
Annual Nomination Exhibition of Watercolor Art Committee of China Artists Association, Guancheng Art Museum, Dongguan
Wanderlust, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Ideal World, Eden Art Gallery, Beijing
2015
The dimension of College, Chengxi Gallery, Beijing
2013
A034 Open Studio, A034 Print Studio, Beijing
Once Meet, C5 Art Center, Beijing
2011
V.A Space, V.A Art Space, Beijing