Liu Youju

Liu Youju (born in 1955, Jiexi, Guangdong, China) is a contemporary Chinese art critic, calligrapher, avant-garde artist, and practitioner of "illusionist painting".

In his early years, he was engaged in poetry, prose, and literary criticism. Some of his poems were included in the Selection of Contemporary Poems by A Thousand of Authors (Chinese: "當代千家詩選粹").

In 2011, he left the Chinese Calligrapher's Association and later founded illusionist painting. His illusionist paintings have been exhibited at the Nixon Presidential Museum in the U.S., the British Museum, the Louvre Museum of Art in France, and the art gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence (Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze) in Italy.

In 2016, Liu organized a personal workshop on his personal artworks at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence.

In 2017, a solo art exhibition was held at Centre Georges-Pompidou, and a speech was delivered during an art research seminar at the same center.

In 2019, the Guangdong artist Liu Youju was awarded the Michelangelo Prize, making him the first Chinese artist to receive this honor in the field of painting.

In 2021, Liu Youju's inauguration ceremony as an honorary fellow of the Italian Academy of Art took place in Florence.

Exhibitions

 * 2014, the Richard Nixon Museum, Yorba Linda, California, United States.
 * March 2015, Liu Youju's personal exhibition, Beijing's Today Art Museum.
 * August 2015, "Rational Return of Illusionism" – Liu Youju Art Exhibition, the Maréchal Hall of the Louvre Decorative Art Museum.
 * 20 April to 24 November 2024, the 60th Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia), Liu Youju's work "Mars Project" will be exhibited at the Palazzo Donà dalle Rose in Venice, the official exhibition hall of the Venice Biennale.
 * From April 20 to November 24, 2024, Liu Youju's works “Mars Project” been selected for the 60th Venice Biennale and been exhibited at Palazzo Dona dalle Rose, the official pavilion of the Venice Biennale.
 * From July, 2024, to August, 2024, Liu Youju's solo painting exhibition "Starting from the Yuan Point" will be held at Palazzo Dona dalle Rose, the official exhibition hall of the Venice Biennale, Italy

Auction
One of Liu's untitled work was sold at Poly International Auction Co. in 2017, realizing the price of 22,515 US dollars.