Liu Xiaodong: Borders

"As much a portrait of the transformed artist as it is a collective rendering of those who call the border home." -Brooklyn Rail

For eight weeks, Chinese painter Liu Xiaodong (born 1962) embedded himself within Mexico-US border communities such as Ciudad Juárez, El Paso, Eagle Pass, Piedras Negras, Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, to capture the lives and trials of the people living there. A leading figure of Chinese Neo-Realism, Liu, in loose brushstrokes, paints everything from border agents on both sides carrying out their duties to Mexican families barbecuing on the banks of the Rio Grande. Also included in this clothbound volume are Liu's reference photographs of these border communities; studies based on those photographs showing how he builds his compositions; and pages of his notes taken throughout his lengthy journey. Peter Doroshenko, director of the Dallas Contemporary, writes in an essay for the book: "every painting captures a decisive moment, locking individual narratives down forever, reflecting numerous cultural references that echo throughout his practice."