Liu Wei
Liu Wei was born in 1965 in Beijing, he was graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and in 1989, he became part of the Cynical Realism movement. Liu Wei is best known for his semi-abstract depictions of flowers and landscapes.
Biography
Liu Wei was born in 1965 in Beijing, he was graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and in 1989, he became part of the Cynical Realism movement. Liu Wei is best known for his semi-abstract depictions of flowers and landscapes. That year marked the Tiananmen Square Incident and the cancellation of an official avant-garde exhibition, and Liu Wei, like many other Chinese artists, felt disenchanted with the authorities. In one of Liu Wei’s well-known paintings titled New Generation (1990), the childhood figures of the artist and his brother are sitting in front of a large image of Mao. Liu Wei suggests that Mao has become a historical icon, not a significant influence on everyday life in China, and the resurgence of political control and conservatism cannot take the same form. Over time, Liu Wei’s work has become more abstract and less political, dealing instead with universal themes of decay, death, and the manipulation of expression. The loose brushwork of his more recent work shows strong influences of Chinese calligraphy, ink-brush painting, and Abstract Expressionism.
Exhibitions
Career
Solo and group exhibitions
2026-2027
The Genesis Facade Commission, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
2025
Liberation Routes, CC Foundation, Shanghai, China
2020-2021
Invisible Cities, MoCA Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (2019-2020)
Liu Wei: Over, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
Solo and group exhibitions
2026-2027
The Genesis Facade Commission, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
2025
Liberation Routes, CC Foundation, Shanghai, China
2020-2021
Invisible Cities, MoCA Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (2019-2020)
Liu Wei: Over, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
2019
Angelus Novus, Michael Werner Gallery, AYE Project Space, Hong Kong, China
Entropy, Faurschou Foundation, Beijing, China
58th Venice Biennale, May You Live in Interesting Times, Venice, Italy
2018
Liu Wei: 180 Faces, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, USA (Solo)
Liu Wei: 180 Faces, UCCA, Beijing, China (Solo)
Exposition collective, Gridology, Hong Kong
2016
What About Art? Contemporary Art Form China, Qatar Museums, Doha, Qatar
Panorama, PLATEAU, Samsung Museum Art, Seoul, Corée du Sud
Homo Faber: A Rainbow Caravan, Aichi Triennale, Aichi, Japan
Exposition collective, Radical Materiality, Hong Kong
Chinese Whispers, Museum of Fine Arts Bern, Bern, Suisse
2015
Surreal Realities –Liu Wei, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany (Solo)
Surreal Realities – Ji Dachun, Liu Wei, Mu Boyan, Aye Gallery, Beijing, China
Future Seasons Past, USA
2014
Liu Wei : Sensory Spaces, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, USA
Sharjah Biennial 11, Émirates Arab-Unies
2013
Every Day Matters, Faurschou Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark
Shamans & Dissent, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Art Basel Unlimited 2013, Basel, Switzerland
Re:emerge: Towards a New Cultural Cartography, Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates
Liu Wei, Lehmann Maupin, New York (solo)
West Bund 2013: A Biennial of Architecture and Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
Sharjah Biennial Re: emerge – towards a new cultural cartography, Sharjah, UAE
Void, Arrow Factory, Beijing, China (solo)
2012
Liu Wei, Long March Space, Beijing, China (solo)
Liu Wei: Foreign, Almine Rech Gallery, Paris, France (solo)
The 4th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
EDIT: Image Fetish and Phobia, ShanghART H – SPACE, Shanghai, China
Martell Artists of the Year, Today Art Museum, Beijing – Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou – Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; China
La Chambre Claire, Taikang Space, Beijing, China
Inside the White Cube, White Cube Bermondsey, London, UK
CIGE, China World Trade Centre, Beijing, China
Adumbration Exhibition, re-C Art Space, Chengdu, China
Water Stains On The Wall – The Carrier of Formation, Zhejiang Art Museum, Zhejiang, China
Exposition collective, “Voyages & Rêves”— La photographie contemporaine chinoise, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
2011
Art Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Myriad Beings, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (solo)
Trilogy, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China (solo)
About Painting, Art Berlin Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai, China
Frieze, London, U.K.
FIAC, Paris, France
Credit Suisse Today Art Award 2011 Finalists Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
The Shape of Time – the multinarrative history in contemporary Chinese art, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Thirty years of Chinese Contemporary Art – Moving Image in China 1988-2011, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Shanshui, Lucerne Museum of Art, Lucerne, Switzerland
The Hague under the Heaven, The Hague Sculpture, The Hague, Netherlands
ACT>TION – video exhibition, Long March Space, Beijing, China
2010
DREAMLANDS, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
State of Things, Exhibition of the Contemporary Art Exchange between China and Belgium, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Roundtrip: Beijing, New York NOW, Selections from the Domus Collection, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Long March Project, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Long March Space, Beijing, China
Shanghai Biennale Rehearsal, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Breaking Forecast- 8 Key Figures of China, New Generation Artists, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art,Beijing, China
Diversion Era: Liu Wei, CAN Foundation, Seoul, South Korea (solo)
2009
A piece of paper, A piece of plywood, Red Bridge Gallery, Shanghai, China
The Big World: Recent Art From China, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, USA
Breaking Forecast – 8 Key Figures of China’s New Generation Artists, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
The Forgotten Experience, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, France (solo)
Yes, That’s All, Beors-Li Gallery, Beijing, China (solo)
Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
ShContemporary 09 Asia-Pacific Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
State of Things, Exhibition of the Contemporary Art Exchange between China and Belgium, BOZAR Center for the Arts,Brussels, Belgium
The New Attitude of Image, Tang Contemporary, Beijing, China
Bourgeoisified Proletariat, ShanghART Songjiang Creative Studio, Shanghai, China
Farewell to Postcolonialism, Third Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou, China
2008
My Scenery, Liu Wei exhibition, Red Bridge Gallery, Shanghai, China
The Borders of Utopia, Beijing Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2007
The History of a Decade that Has Not Yet Been Named, Ninth Lyon Biennale, Lyon, France
NONO, Long March Space, Beijing, China
7 Characters: New Art from China, Mayor Gallery, London, UK
China Now, Cobra Museum, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Lyon Biennial 2007, Lyon, France
China Power Station: Part II, Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway
Barcelona-Paris-Pekin, Espace Cultural Ample, Barcelona, Spain
Year of the Golden Pig: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland
Art in Motion: Chinese Contemporary Art Meets the BMW Art Cars, Long March Space, Beijing, China
The Outcast, UniversalStudios-Beijing, Beijing, China (solo)
Love It, Bite It, China Art Archives and Warehouse, Beijing, China (solo)
2006
Property of L.W, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China (solo)
Purple Air, Grace Li Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)
Fiction@Love, MOCA Shanghai , Shanghai , China
Contemporary China, PKM Gallery, Seoul , Korea
Yellow box, Qingpu, Shanghai , China
The second space for contemporary ink work -idylls and visions, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou , China
ALLLOOKSAME?/TUTTTUGUALE? – Art from China , Korea and Japan, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin , Italy
The 4th Seoul International Media Art Biennale, Seoul Museum of Art , Seoul , Korea
2004 – 2006
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video From China, The Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA;
Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, USA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA; International Center for Photography, New York, USA
2005
Battlefield, The Courtyard Gallery Annex, Beijing (solo)
The Second Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
51st Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Mahjong, Bern, Switzerland
First Nanjing Triennial, Nanjing, China
Exposition individuelle, Paysage, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
2004
Shanghai Biennale, Techniques of the Visible, Shanghai, China
Regeneration, touring exhibition, USA
Exhibitions Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, International Center of Photography and The Asia Society,
New York, Smart Museum of Art (touring exhibition)
Museum of Contemporary, Chicago, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, USA; Art House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany
2003
Open Sky, Duolun Museum of Art, Shanghai, China
The Fifth System: Public Art in the Age of Post-Planning, Shenzhen, China
Together with Migrant, Today Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Double Time, China Academy of Fine Arts, Huangzhou, China
Second Hand Reality, Today Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Refine 798, 798, Beijing, China
2002
The First Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Mirage, Godot Art Museum, Suzhou Art Museum, Suzhou, China
Everyday Attitude: An Exhibition of Chinese Photo-Based Arts, Pingyao, Shanxi, China
Too Much Flavour, 3H Art Center, Shanghai, Chine; Avant-Garde, Hakaren, Singapore
2001
Post-Sensibility Spree, Pékin Film Academy, Beijing, China.
Non-Linear Narrative, Gallery of National Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China
Mantic Ecstasy, Impression Gallery, Hangzhou; Bizart Art Center, Shanghai, Chine
New Media Art Space, Beijing, China.
16th Asian International Art Exhibition, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Reconfiguration-Works on Paper, Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Beijing, China.
Towards A New Image, National Art Museum, Beijing, China.
Rouges, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
Liu Wei & Zhao Gang 2001, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
Chinese New Painting, Galerie Urs Meile, Luzern, Switzerland.
Exposition individuelle, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
2000
Home?’ Contemporary Art Project, Yuexing Furniture Warehouse, Shanghai, China.
Reconfiguration, The Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Beijing, China.
Thinking Aloud, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
The New Face of Chine, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
1999
Art for Sale, Shanghai Plaza, Shanghai, China
Pékin in London, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
Post-Sensibility: Alien Bodies and Delusion, Shaoyaoju, Beijing, China.
Inside-Out- New Chinese Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Asia Society, New York, E.U.
Art Chine, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, E.U.
New Modernism for a new Millennium, Limm Gallery, San Francisco, E.U.
Zeitwenden-The Outlook, Kunst Museum, Bonn, Germany.
1998
Chinese New Art, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, E.U.
Chinese Art, Galerie Urs Meile, Rosenberg höle, Luzern, Switzerland.
Made in Chine – Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, Nikolaus Sonne Fine Arts, Berlin.
Inside Out, Asia Society, New York, E.U.
1997
Chine New Art, Prague Art Museum, Czech Republic
Quotation Marks: Chine avant garde, Modern Art Museum, Singapore.
Red and Gray – avant garde chinese artists, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore.
Chine New Art, Lisbon Museum of Art, Lisbon, Portugal.
8 + 8 – 1, Fifteen Contemporary Chinese Artists, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong.
Liu Wei and Ye Yong Qing, Gallery of the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China.
Chine Now!, Kulturprojekte, Basel, Switzerland.
Chine!, Kuenstlerhaus, Vienne, Austria.
Chine!, haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin ; Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany.
1996
Chine! Kunst Museum, Bonn, Germany.
1995
46e Bienniale de Venise, Italie.
Chinese New Art Exhibition – out of the national ideology, Hamburg, Germany.
New Art in China, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition – From Realism to Post-Modernism, Galerie Theoremes, Brussels, Belgique.
Aperto 95, Avant-gardes Artistiques Xinesses, Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain.
1994
Contemporary Chinese Oil Paintings, Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong.
The 22nd International Biennial of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Out of the Middle Kingdom Chinese Avant-Garde Art, Santa Monica Art Center, Barcelona, Spain.
1993
The 45th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy.
China’s New Art Post – 1989: New Art From China, Marlborough Gallery, London; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England; New Art, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong.
Mao Goes Pop, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia.
Chine avant-garde, Berlin, Allemagne
1992
Liu Wei and Fang Lijun, Capital Museum, Beijing.