Art crosses boundaries to exciting era

Exhibition gives panoramic view of intricate skill and design in China, offering vivid portrayal of ordinary people, Lin Qi reports.

The elliptical Hall No 1 on the ground floor of the National Art Museum of China in Beijing is normally saved for events of great importance, often exhibitions by historical artists of luminosity.

Entering the expansive room today, you will find a painting hung in the center created by Shen Xiaoming, an ink artist from Zhejiang province who is pursuing a doctoral degree in classical Chinese painting at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

In his piece titled Golden Land, Shen, 38, depicts and speaks for his peers — people whom he has come across on the streets, construction sites, factories and restaurants, and those hoping for a better life in big cities.

"They come from rural places. Their grandfathers and fathers, back in the villages, have devoted their lives to farming. My peers are 'farming' on a different kind of land in the cities," Shen says.

"The figures in the painting are real people I met when preparing the work. I talked to them for a long time and felt that, although they moved to cities, they are emotionally attached to the land their families have worked hard on for generations," he adds.

Thus in the painting, he positions the people not against the background of urban landscapes but an extensive field of agricultural harvest and portrays them as if monuments rising from the field.

"Young people have a new attitude, a temperament their predecessors do not possess. They are more confident and active in embracing changes and facing challenges," Shen says.