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WRONG LOVE: Eileen Chang, is one of the four
figures in the Love Letter painting series
TRUE LOVE: Steve Jobs is another figure in the Love Letter series
RESOLUTE LEADER: U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt in the World War II series
VICTORY POSE: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the World War II series
Liu Yigang, a 51-year-old artist, is making efforts to interpret history through painting portraits of well-known international figures. In one of his recent works, Liu painted a confident and strongwilled U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. The image of Roosevelt was the symbol of the brave American people who fought against fascists during World War II. In the painting, Roosevelt’s iron fist is pointing to his audiences, and he seems to warn the enemies that unconditional surrender is their only choice. Liu added some elements to the portrait of Roosevelt to enrich the symbolism. He painted a bald eagle, a bottle of Coca Cola, a U.S. dollar mark and atomic bombs behind Roosevelt to show the irresistible influence of U.S. pop culture, its powerful military and strong economy.
Liu has been painting an epic series of portraits titled New Illuminants, of which he has finished two groups, Centenary and World War II. Centenary is made up of paintings of Chinese leaders who played significant roles in modern Chinese history. The art works of World War II depict some wartime leaders of allied forces including U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin.
“People are becoming increasingly concerned with public figures due to the development of society in the global information age. Therefore, artists like me hope to find special ways to interpret public topics. That is why I did portraits of some well-known leaders,” Liu said.
“Furthermore, many of the political figures I portrayed are well-known internationally. Their stories tell an important period of history. But their images in the hearts of the people may vary—who is good or who is bad. What I want to do is to paint those politicians according to my own understanding of history,” said Liu.
“I want to paint them in a pop art way. I add post-modern characteristics to the epic style of painting and try to make the paintings more appealing to younger generations,” Liu said.
Exaggerated use of colors on the faces of the leaders, such as red, green, yellow and blue, implies different mental activities of each figure. Liu also writes slogans on top of the portraits to support the symbolism.
A common feature of the portraits is the light beam on each leader’s face. Liu believes that great political leaders are like the light of hope, giving direction for people lost in the dark world. However, Liu explained, the light could only help lead people out of the darkness. It is the successor who should continue the peace-keeping efforts when the predecessor’s time is over.
Early years
Liu studied at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing City in southwest China. Later, he entered the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, which was merged with Tsinghua University and renamed the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University in 1999, for further study. He majored in sculpture and decorative design. After graduation in 1987, he worked as a sculptor and designer for a stateowned enterprise in Beijing.
In the late 1990s, Liu quit his stable and well-paid job, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to art. Liu specialized in making sculptures and statues with metals, such as iron, steel, and copper. In Liu’s hands, no matter what the theme is, doves, cranes, horses or abstract shapes, all of his statues possess a modern beauty. One of his metal statutes, The Knight, won the silver medal at the Southeast Asian Statute Exhibition in 1987.
“The use of metals is one of the brilliant achievements of human civilization. At present, newly emerged materials and technology inspire artists to further promote the development of metal sculpture,” Liu said.
Liu’s sculptures have been collected by museums and individuals across the country.
A New Career
Although he had achieved success in sculpture in the past, in 2000, Liu decided to do something he had never done before, and began to shift his focus toward painting. “After all, painting and sculpture are interlinked,” he said.
Liu started painting and public figures are often the themes of his paintings.
The first and most popular series of Liu is four portraits entitled Love Letter which reveals the painter’s incisive interpretation of love.
T h e f i g u r e s h e painted are: Wang Luobin(1913-96), a renowned songwriter; Eileen Chang(1920-95), a legendary female writer; Sanmao(1943-91), a Taiwanese author who travelled across the world; and Steve Jobs (1955-2011), the late Apple Inc. boss. From Liu’s perspective, they represent four kinds of love between men and women: bitter love, wrong love, crazy love and true love.
“I chose them as the main characters because their lives were inscribed by the four different loves,” Liu said to Beijing Review at his apartment in Beijing. “And people have come to know their love stories through the love letters they left.”
In order to better display the uniqueness of each figure, Liu adopted some pop art techniques, such as setting different backgrounds for each figure. For example, Jobs was painted wearing a pair of apple-shaped sunglasses. The portrait of Eileen Chang was framed in an old black-and-white photo to show her elegance and beauty.
The most prominent feature of the Love Letter series is that people can read some segments of the love letters on the pictures. Liu took some excerpts of their love letters and wrote them on the faces of figures. “I used Chinese characters and English letters to constitute the portraits,” Liu said. “People can learn more information about the figures’ love stories from the paintings.”
“Liu’s paintings are distinguished from other portraits in galleries. Viewers can see free style in the pictures. The painter doesn’t limit himself to conventional patterns, but adds unique and new techniques to the paintings,” said Geng Youzhuang, an art critic and professor at Renmin University of China.
Although Liu has received praise from experts and netizens, he doesn’t intend to relax. He said he would be busy with preparations for new paintings and a nationwide itinerant exhibition this year. “For me, it is just the beginning of my painting career. I must seize the time to fulfill my dream,” Liu said.
(All photos provided by Liu Yigang)
figures in the Love Letter painting series
TRUE LOVE: Steve Jobs is another figure in the Love Letter series
RESOLUTE LEADER: U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt in the World War II series
VICTORY POSE: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the World War II series
Liu Yigang, a 51-year-old artist, is making efforts to interpret history through painting portraits of well-known international figures. In one of his recent works, Liu painted a confident and strongwilled U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. The image of Roosevelt was the symbol of the brave American people who fought against fascists during World War II. In the painting, Roosevelt’s iron fist is pointing to his audiences, and he seems to warn the enemies that unconditional surrender is their only choice. Liu added some elements to the portrait of Roosevelt to enrich the symbolism. He painted a bald eagle, a bottle of Coca Cola, a U.S. dollar mark and atomic bombs behind Roosevelt to show the irresistible influence of U.S. pop culture, its powerful military and strong economy.
Liu has been painting an epic series of portraits titled New Illuminants, of which he has finished two groups, Centenary and World War II. Centenary is made up of paintings of Chinese leaders who played significant roles in modern Chinese history. The art works of World War II depict some wartime leaders of allied forces including U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin.
“People are becoming increasingly concerned with public figures due to the development of society in the global information age. Therefore, artists like me hope to find special ways to interpret public topics. That is why I did portraits of some well-known leaders,” Liu said.
“Furthermore, many of the political figures I portrayed are well-known internationally. Their stories tell an important period of history. But their images in the hearts of the people may vary—who is good or who is bad. What I want to do is to paint those politicians according to my own understanding of history,” said Liu.
“I want to paint them in a pop art way. I add post-modern characteristics to the epic style of painting and try to make the paintings more appealing to younger generations,” Liu said.
Exaggerated use of colors on the faces of the leaders, such as red, green, yellow and blue, implies different mental activities of each figure. Liu also writes slogans on top of the portraits to support the symbolism.
A common feature of the portraits is the light beam on each leader’s face. Liu believes that great political leaders are like the light of hope, giving direction for people lost in the dark world. However, Liu explained, the light could only help lead people out of the darkness. It is the successor who should continue the peace-keeping efforts when the predecessor’s time is over.
Early years
Liu studied at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing City in southwest China. Later, he entered the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, which was merged with Tsinghua University and renamed the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University in 1999, for further study. He majored in sculpture and decorative design. After graduation in 1987, he worked as a sculptor and designer for a stateowned enterprise in Beijing.
In the late 1990s, Liu quit his stable and well-paid job, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to art. Liu specialized in making sculptures and statues with metals, such as iron, steel, and copper. In Liu’s hands, no matter what the theme is, doves, cranes, horses or abstract shapes, all of his statues possess a modern beauty. One of his metal statutes, The Knight, won the silver medal at the Southeast Asian Statute Exhibition in 1987.
“The use of metals is one of the brilliant achievements of human civilization. At present, newly emerged materials and technology inspire artists to further promote the development of metal sculpture,” Liu said.
Liu’s sculptures have been collected by museums and individuals across the country.
A New Career
Although he had achieved success in sculpture in the past, in 2000, Liu decided to do something he had never done before, and began to shift his focus toward painting. “After all, painting and sculpture are interlinked,” he said.
Liu started painting and public figures are often the themes of his paintings.
The first and most popular series of Liu is four portraits entitled Love Letter which reveals the painter’s incisive interpretation of love.
T h e f i g u r e s h e painted are: Wang Luobin(1913-96), a renowned songwriter; Eileen Chang(1920-95), a legendary female writer; Sanmao(1943-91), a Taiwanese author who travelled across the world; and Steve Jobs (1955-2011), the late Apple Inc. boss. From Liu’s perspective, they represent four kinds of love between men and women: bitter love, wrong love, crazy love and true love.
“I chose them as the main characters because their lives were inscribed by the four different loves,” Liu said to Beijing Review at his apartment in Beijing. “And people have come to know their love stories through the love letters they left.”
In order to better display the uniqueness of each figure, Liu adopted some pop art techniques, such as setting different backgrounds for each figure. For example, Jobs was painted wearing a pair of apple-shaped sunglasses. The portrait of Eileen Chang was framed in an old black-and-white photo to show her elegance and beauty.
The most prominent feature of the Love Letter series is that people can read some segments of the love letters on the pictures. Liu took some excerpts of their love letters and wrote them on the faces of figures. “I used Chinese characters and English letters to constitute the portraits,” Liu said. “People can learn more information about the figures’ love stories from the paintings.”
“Liu’s paintings are distinguished from other portraits in galleries. Viewers can see free style in the pictures. The painter doesn’t limit himself to conventional patterns, but adds unique and new techniques to the paintings,” said Geng Youzhuang, an art critic and professor at Renmin University of China.
Although Liu has received praise from experts and netizens, he doesn’t intend to relax. He said he would be busy with preparations for new paintings and a nationwide itinerant exhibition this year. “For me, it is just the beginning of my painting career. I must seize the time to fulfill my dream,” Liu said.
(All photos provided by Liu Yigang)