Beili Liu (; born 1974) is a Chinese-born US-based visual artist who makes large-scale, process-driven sculptural environments that examine themes of

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

, cultural memory, materiality,

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, social and environmental concerns. Through unconventional use of commonplace materials and elements such as thread, needle, scissors, feather, salt, wax, and cement, Liu extrapolates complex cultural narratives through a hybrid work form that merges site-responsive installation,

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

, and

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

. Liu lives and works in Austin, Texas. Liu is the Leslie Waggener Professor in the Fine Arts and is a University of Texas System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Professor at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Early life

Beili Liu was born in a farming village in the Northeast province of

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

, China to parents who were among the 16 million

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or educated youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the People' ...

during China's

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. After ten years of exile and re-education in the countryside, her parents relocated to the Northeast Chinese industrial city of

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

. In 1989, one month before the Tiananmen Square Protests, her family migrated to the southern coastal city of

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, a major manufacturing center and economic hub bordering

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and one of four "

Special Economic Zones A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

" designated at the early stage of the

Chinese economic reform Reform and opening-up ( zh, s=改革开放, p=Gǎigé kāifàng), also known as the Chinese economic reform or Chinese economic miracle, refers to a variety of economic reforms termed socialism with Chinese characteristics and socialist marke ...

Education

Liu attended

Shenzhen University Shenzhen University (SZU, Traditional Chinese: 深圳大學, Simplified Chinese: 深圳大学, Pinyin: Shēnzhèn Dàxué) is a municipal public research university in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The university is funded by the Shenzhen Mu ...

, studying Chinese Literature before immigrating to the US in 1995. Liu received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2001 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of th ...

in 2003 as a Barbour Scholar.

Career

Early in Liu's career senior critic Janet Kaplos remarked in Art in America (2009) that Liu's installations were "materially simple but metaphorically rich." DeWitt Cheng, art critic for

Artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

, noted in 2012 that "The idea of aggression and danger halted by gentle restraint is ... embodied" in Liu's site-specific installations. Beili Liu has held solo exhibitions at the Crow Museum of Asian Art (2020), Dallas, Texas
Galerie An Der Pinakothek Der Moderne
Munich, Germany (2018, 2011)

http://www.hagamleprestegard.no/ Hå Gamle Prestegard], Norwegian National Art and Culture Museum (2016, 2011), Hua Gallery, London, UK (2012), Elisabeth de Brabant Art Center, Shanghai, China (2009), and the Chinese Culture Foundation,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(2015, 2008). Liu's work has been showcased in group exhibitions at 何香凝美术馆 Hexiangning Museum of Art, Shenzhen, China (2022), Artpace, San Antonio (2021), the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest art museum, fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. It is situated within City Park (New Orleans), City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton ...

(2020),

Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...

Texas Center (2022, 2019), Bunkier Sztuki Gallery,

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(2017), 杭州纤维三年展

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Triennial of Fiber Art, Zhejiang Art Museum,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(2016), National Museum for Women in the Arts,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(2012),

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Art Week,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(2012), th
Kaunas BiennaleNational M. K. Ciurlionis Art Museum

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

(2011), and the 23rd and 25th Miniartextil International Contemporary

Fiber Art Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a #Natural fibers, natural or Fiber#Artificial fibers, artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The st ...

exhibitions in

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(2015, 2013).

Honors and grants

Beili Liu is a 2022-2024

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

Fellow, representing the first visual artist awarded this

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

and

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

fellowship in support of scholarship that "addresses important and enduring issues confronting our society." Liu received the 202
Pollock Prize for Creativity
and th
Brian Wall Brian Wall Foundation Grant for Sculptors
through the

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing funding to visual artists internationally to further their artistic practices. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expr ...

. Liu is a 2021-2022

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

br>Distinguished Scholar
as th
Arctic Chair
to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and a 2016

Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...

Painters and Sculptors Grant recipient. Liu has been designated the 2018 Texas State Artist in 3D medium by the

Texas State Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a po ...

and the Texas Commission on The Arts. Beili Liu's work has received support from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Challenge America Grant for her exhibition at the

Art Museum of Southeast Texas The Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) is an art museum in Beaumont, Texas, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a fe ...

, 2014. Liu's public art project Sky Bridge was named Best Public Art Installation by KQED. In 2013, Liu was invited by Women & Their Work Gallery to create a collaborative public art project THIRST, which was supported in part by a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artistic Innovation and Collaboration Grant. Liu has held a number of artist residency fellowships, including the

Center, Studios at

MASS MoCA The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

AIR, Austin TX,

Fiskars Fiskars Corporation (natively Fiskars Oyj Abp; formerly Fiskars Oy Ab until 1998) is a Finnish consumer goods company founded in 1649 in Fiskars, Finland, Fiskars, a locality in the town of Raseborg, Finland, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) wes ...

AIR,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, Djerassi Foundation, Woodside, CA, and Fundación Valparaíso,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Art Farm, Nebraska. She received a Distinction award at the

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Biennial

(2011), and was honoured by a

Mayor's Award (2008) for her contribution to cultural exchange.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Beili 1974 births Living people 20th-century Chinese women artists 20th-century Chinese artists 21st-century Chinese women artists 21st-century Chinese artists Asian-American art Chinese contemporary artists Chinese installation artists Chinese sculptors American people of Chinese descent