“Body,” 2026. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)
Last year, Liu Xiaodong visited Detroit with the intention of painting its various residents—perhaps he would portray retired workers from the motor industry, he thought, or maybe rappers from the city’s prominent music scene. Instead, the figurative painter decided to significantly narrow his scope. For the first time in his career, he honed in on a single subject: John Mcintyre, a Detroit-based tattoo artist and a member of a local medieval fighting team. Now, this documentary project is the basis of Liu’s latest solo exhibition, currently on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles.
Aptly titled Host, the show offers a kaleidoscopic glimpse into Detroit as told through Mcintyre’s life. Across Liu’s expressive, highly textured canvases, we follow Mcintyre into a snow-covered forest, where he dons full armor and reenacts battles with fellow combatants; we watch from afar as he approaches a building towering above a desolate, midwinter street; and we trace his hands as he tattoos a man’s calf, his brow furrowed in concentration. These scenes may appear disparate at first glance but, when taken together, they still provide a singular portrait of a city and the many ways it is inhabited.
Perhaps nothing encapsulates this better than Mcintyre’s ties to Detroit’s subcultural world. Since 2019, he has been a member of Knyaz USA, a Michigan-specific medieval reenactment club that partners with a similar group in Ukraine. Alongside his team, Mcintyre participates in “buhurt” or “historical medieval battles” (HMB), a full-contact, armored sport in which opponents attempt to strike each other with blunted steel weapons. Snowlight in Detroit grounds Liu’s examination of Knyaz USA, depicting Mcintyre with other fighters also decked out in intricate armor. They wield swords and axes; they clutch shields emblazoned with a sun sigil; and they wade through the thick snow that defines a Midwestern winter.
The monumental canvas is completed by something of an easter egg. Toward the back of the composition we can glimpse the artist himself wearing a blue jacket. He’s turned away from the duels unfolding behind him, his focus entirely reserved for painting en plein air. In this way, Liu is merely an observer, documenting the unexpected moments that lie beneath the city’s industrial surface.
“Chancing upon the figure of [Mcintyre], embedded in Detroit subcultures and historical battles, allowed Liu to train his brush on one ‘host’ individual, somehow representing the wider communities he embodies,” the gallery explains in a press release. “Even in the heat of the battle, Liu’s main subject is recognizable, seemingly stepping out of the twenty-first century into a pre-Raphaelite fantasy.”
The exhibition’s other paintings are equally intimate, including Backyard. Here, we see Mcintyre submerged in a hot tub, the landscape behind him blanketed by snow. Similarly, in John and His Tattoos, we encounter Mcintyre without his shirt; his chest, arms, and stomach decorated with countless tattoos—another reminder of the subcultures in which he participates, and another reminder that, even without his chainmail, his skin has its own armor. In these compositions, Liu takes us into Mcintyre’s domestic reality, one that would otherwise be kept private and out of view.
“Rather than heroicizing this painted knight,” the gallery contends, “Liu considers the importance of outsiders and individuals in society, as well as the communities and camaraderie that both create and encircle any one person.”
Liu Xiaodong: Host will be on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles through June 13, 2026.
In his newest solo exhibition, figurative painter Liu Xiaodong hones in on one single subject: a Detroit-based tattoo artist and member of a local medieval fighting team.
“John and His Tattoos (John与他的纹身),” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)
“Painter John (画家John),” 2026. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)
“One Person on a Snowy Night,” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)
“John in his Armor (戴着铁甲的John),” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)
Now on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles, Host offers an intimate—and, at times, unexpected—glimpse into Detroit through the lens of one of its inhabitants.
“One man, One city (一个人，一座城),” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)
Installation view of “Liu Xiaodong: Host,” on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of the gallery © Liu Xiaodong)
Installation view of “Liu Xiaodong: Host,” on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of the gallery © Liu Xiaodong)
Installation view of “Liu Xiaodong: Host,” on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of the gallery © Liu Xiaodong)
