Liu Ye investigates the intersections of history and image-making with a distinct and timeless visual vocabulary. His carefully balanced and lushly rendered artworks draw from the diverse aesthetic and cultural sources of his childhood and early European education. These paintings capture the likenesses and legacies of authors like Vladimir Nabokov, Hans Christian Andersen, and William Shakespeare; twentieth-century Chinese cultural icons, such as actress Ruan Lingyu and writer Eileen Chang; and modernist painters, architects, and designers from the Bauhaus to Balthus. By skillfully employing these various points of reference, Liu has created a body of work rich in historical quotations yet singularly unique.

Liu Ye was born in 1964 in Beijing, China, where he resides. He studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the School of Arts & Crafts (both in Beijing), and the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, Germany.

Liu has mounted solo exhibitions at David Zwirner in New York City, NY (2023); the New Century Art Foundation in Beijing, China (2022); Fondazione Prada in Milan, Italy (2021); David Zwirner in London, UK (2020); Prada Rong Zhai in Shanghai, China (2018); Mondriaanhuis in Amersfoort, The Netherlands (2016); Kunstmuseum Bern in Bern, Switzerland (2007); and elsewhere.

His work has also been featured in significant international group exhibitions, including Common Ground: UCCA 15th Anniversary Patrons Collection Exhibition at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (2022); Hello World: Revising a Collection at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany (2018); Viva Arte Viva, 57th Venice Biennale (2017); The World in 2015, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2015); Re-View: Opening Exhibition of Long Museum West Bund, Long Museum, Shanghai (2014); Future Pass: From Asia to the World, 54th Venice Biennale (2011); Chinamania, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark (2009); and many others.