 Cao Zhen caozhen0806@126.com CHINESE painting master Au Ho-nien is exhibiting 85 of his ink paintings and calligraphic works created during the past six decades at Shenzhen Museum’s Civic Center outlet until October. Au uses dynamic, versatile brush strokes and rich colors to create mood in his rendering of figures, landscapes, animals and flowers. Among the distinctive elements of Au’s style is a skillful use of the traditional principles of “broken ink” and “dry brush” harmonized with the technique of water and pigment infusion. He likes to apply ink tones and color washes directly while sparing the use of outlines, thus achieving an exciting effect that emphasizes dimension and distance. In his landscape paintings, he strives to bring forth the visual harmony of nature by having majestic mountains fill up the central space and placing people or other small elements off to one corner. His paintings of tigers, lions, monkeys, cranes and horses are vivid and expressive, possessing a special quality of liveliness. His figure paintings are descriptive and vibrant. In ink usage, he combines both the rich moistness of a heavily watered brush with the dry rubbing effect of a parched brush. Au’s calligraphy is characterized by vigorous and forceful brushstrokes and is unique in style. His expertise in calligraphy has increased the dexterity of his brushwork. Born in 1935 in Zhanjiang in western Guangdong, Au is widely recognized as a leading contemporary artist in the Chinese art world. He moved to Taiwan in the 1970s and is the Hwakang Professor of Art at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, a prestigious post and Taiwan’s highest accolade for an artist. Besides being a master painter and calligrapher, he is also an accomplished seal carver. He promotes the aesthetic traditions of Chinese culture through his numerous exhibitions and educational presentations. Since 1956, he has been invited to hold exhibitions in some of the world’s leading galleries and museums, including the Tokyo Central Museum of Art, the Frankfurt Museum fur Kunsthandwerk and the Cernuschi Museum. Au’s paintings have been collected by numerous museums around the world, including the British Museum, the San Diego Museum, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the Taiwan Museum of Art and the National Museum of China. Dates: Until Oct. 18 Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Mondays Venue: Shenzhen Museum, Block A, Civic Center, Futian District (福田区市民中心A区深圳博物馆新馆) Metro: Shekou or Longhua Line, Civic Center Station (市民中心站), Exit B | 