Hometown artist

Liu Xiaodong: Your Friends, the prominent painter's second solo show at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, has been extended to May 15. Liu, one of the foremost portrait painters of his generation, has created a photographic style in his compositions and the loose brushstrokes, layers upon layers, revealed to his viewers a bigger picture of the dramatic social changes and the fate of people involved. At the current exhibition, he gives a profile of the individuals with whom he has close ties: mother, brother, wife and three friends. His works examine what these relationships mean to one's life, addressing eternal topics such as friendship, aging and death. "Nowadays, the life of an individual has become more and more important, and a person's experiences are too distinctive to be replaced," he says. Also on show is a 90-minute-long documentary that takes the audience to Liu's hometown, Jincheng, in Liaoning province's Jinzhou.

10 am-7 pm, Tuesday to Sunday.4 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-5780-0200.