Born and educated in Sichuan, Liao Zhenwu often paints the ubiquitous motorcycles of his mountainous homeland. With a backdrop of winter’s gray skies, his gritty black-and-white paintings capture the smoky atmosphere of hordes of motorcyclists with their innumerable passengers. According to critic Gao Ling, Liao’s recent series of paintings reflect his impressions of the interactive … Read More

Considered a quintessential Chinese artist, He Zubin is among the leading artists cataloged in the prestigious “2007 Chinese Contemporary Art Document.” His stylized figures, gracefully curved like the subjects of Thomas Hart Benton, suggest the relationship between the characters portrayed. In “Bad Guess,” an older girl, possibly a sibling, holds her hands as if playing … Read More

Li Bo disregards the conventions of composition and scale and depicts his subjects in the same size along a linear path. According to the artist, the string of apparently unrelated objects in Li Bo’s enigmatic painting should be viewed in context of television, other media outlets, and particularly the Internet, where random “surfing” can provide … Read More

According to a review in the “Guangdong Province News,” Xiong Lijun is an outstanding example of the generation of artists born around the 1980s. “Hoo Girl Girl Girl,”  a 62-by-78-inch painting done in 2003, is typical of her work–three dancing young women, decked out in very trendy clothes and shoes, their orange hair contrasting sharply … Read More

This 25-year-old Chinese artist clearly sees his swiftly evolving nation and its soaring economy as in its infancy, its traditions coming under the influence–not always for the better–of the decadent United States, with its icons of Coca Cola, cigarettes, hamburgers and orange juice. Coming at a time when China’s widespread industrial and manufacturing abuses are … Read More

One of the more unusual developments in postwar contemporary Chinese art is the so-called “big face” school, with exaggerated heads and doll-like eyes and expressions inspired by Japanese comics. Yang Na, 25, grew up during a period when these comics, known as manga, and their animated versions, or anime, became extremely popular throughout the world. … Read More

“Artists who grew up in Beijing tend to have a deep relationship with traditional Chinese culture, as well as a subtle and accurate understanding of everyday political life. Both of these are seen clearly in Lu Peng’s art…(he) has been deeply affected by traditional drama, martial arts fiction, electronic games, and Hollywood films…His works enable … Read More