Jayne Arksey: Liu Xiaodong

This summer, I had the pleasure of visiting an art and photography exhibition by Liu Xiaodong at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. The exhibition, entitled Migrations explored the lives of Asian communities living in Prato as well as current European migrants.

A video introducing the exhibition shows some of the issues he had while researching for the project. Many Chinese migrants would not allow him into their homes due to differing impressions they promote to the outside world and those back home. Often squeezed into tiny, shared homes, many would wear designer clothes and drive expensive cars while working long, unsociable hours necessary to pay for this lifestyle.

‘Migrants are bursting with hope and energy yet at the same time they are weighed down by anxiety and loss.’

Xiaodong spent time with refugees traveling across Europe, trying to find a safe haven. His exhibition displayed photographs that he had taken along the way, which would then be arranged and compiled into paintings. It was interesting to see this process of photographing several real moments being used to create an almost real image, parts that the artist found pleasing to put together to create a complete image.

While viewing this work, I thought about the news surrounding Steve McCurry and his Photoshopped images, the responsibility placed on documentary photographers to create images that are real and the trust that is broken when discovered otherwise. I was drawn to the freedom enjoyed by Xiaodong, his chosen medium allowing him to display the world, as he perceives it.