Liu Ye: The Book Paintings : 9781644230367 : 23 Sep 2021 : The Chinese artist Liu Ye's meticulous, colorful canvases convey his love of literature in the first publication dedicated to his paintings of books. Liu is known for his precise, deftly rendered representational paintings. Drawn from contemporary culture and old master painting, his wide-ranging visual touchstones include Piet Mondrian, Miffy the Bunny, Balthus, and Rogier van der Weyden. In this new publication devoted to his book paintings, the artist examines the book as both a physical object and cultural totem. Playing with geometry and perspective, Liu creates extraordinary and disorienting portraits of this most familiar subject.   Liu's Book Painting series, begun in 2013, depicts close-up views of books that are turned open to reveal empty pages, an approach that emphasizes the object's form over its content. Rendering books' material structure?endpapers, binding, spine?in sensual detail, these paintings indicate an