PORTRAIT PAINTING XiaoDong Yu Open class Part 3 - 4

Artist biography Yu Xiaodong was born in 1963 and was largely influenced creatively by the 1980s. The generation of artists that grew up in, and were inspired by, the 1980s was influenced by a period of rapidly growing global capitalism, political upheaval, significant wealth differences, global mass media and distinctive music and fashion, including electronic pop music and hip hop. The nineteen eighties was the era of African famine, the height of the Cold War, and also the end of it, as marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall. significant art movements of the era include Neo Geo, The Pictures Generation and the global trend of Neo-Expressionism which manifested in Germany, the USA and Italy (where it was known as Transavanguardia). The decade was exemplified by artists like Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel. Street art and graffiti began to gain prominence, notable artists of which include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf.