gallery

Our summer 2012 exhibition features two of our most popular Beijing-based artists whose works have become familiar and collectable here in Australia.

Cheng Yu

Mr Cheng Yu was born in 1976 in Shenyang, Liaoning province. He graduated from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts and is now a fulltime artist living in Beijing.

Cheng Yu’s work is a fusion of contemporary eastern and western styles. Instead of the traditional brush, Cheng Yu employs the palette knife to create images of oil on canvas. However, he wields this tool like a Chinese calligraphy brush to produce life like forms. The strokes are reminiscent of a master calligrapher and demonstrate the level of skill he has achieved.

Having created his own style, his work is described as free and without the boundaries or restraints of following the directions of others. The work is pure and truthful.

His more recent paintings include clowns in awkward positions often on a tightrope or in cars. The strong and bold colours show Cheng Yu’s passion for his subjects. Though his works are often abstract in form their true essence is revealed.

This combination of style and colour makes his work unique and instantly recognisable. His works are being collected by galleries in Beijing and Shanghai as well as by art lovers internationally. In 2008 his painting “One red string” was included in a special publication of emerging Beijing artists for the Beijing Olympics.

Soul of the black soil - Watercolours by Li Xinsheng

“Why are my eyes filled with tears? It is because I love the land so much” These beautiful lines from the contemporary Chinese poet Ai Qing (1910 – 1996) best describe watercolour artist Mr Li Xin Sheng’s paintings.

Born and raised in northern China, Mr Li passionately loves his homeland with unique scenes of white snowy mountains and black fertile soil. His paintings focus on the stunning natural beauty of northern villages and the people who live on the land.

Mr Li paints vivid life scenes in the northern winter: warm lights inside snow-covered houses with high-raised red lanterns; the sheep strolling in the snow under the sun. His other scenes are massive bold colours on the blossoms of the spring trees and the fiery golden autumn of the harvest.

Mr Li combines classic brush painting techniques with his own methods of execution, which creates a unique painting style.

In his paintings we can see long and soft structural lines to support the whole picture while short lines are orderly grouped.

He has become famous for his use of ink to portray objects and figures while letting the natural white of the paper depict the snow.

Mr Li graduated from the China National Central Academy of Fine Arts, specializing in watercolour painting. Currently he is a resident artist at the China National Museum. Mr Li also is a member of the Beijing Arts Society. He holds positions of Chancellor of the Northern Painting Academy, Vice Editor of the highly popular Arts Collectors magazine and is Chief Editor of Northern Paintings and Calligraphy.

This exhibition has a focus on his early and best works. Among them The Northern Wind 1997 was selected by the Association of Art Federation of Heilongjiang province at a special exhibition to celebrate the return of Hong Kong to China. The clouds float over my home country 2005 was selected by the Association of Art Federation of China for the 5th Chinese Contemporary Watercolour Exhibition in Beijing.