Cathy Mo 865068803@qq.com Shenzheners are lucky to have the chance to enjoy quite a number of excellent Chinese paintings by currently renowned artists from all parts of the country, as Shenzhen Art Museum is staging the Chinese Traditional Painting Academy’s annual show. Entry is free. A total of 102 brushworks are on display, including works of shanshui (mountains and rivers), flowers and birds, figures and metropolitan sceneries. In terms of technique, they are in the traditional, decorative, realist or freehand form, but most bear a strong sense of the time of its origin. The rich variety and high quality of the collection is derived from a team of talented painters. Beijing-based Chinese Traditional Painting Academy is a nongovernmental professional institution, with renowned shanshui painter Man Weiqi as its president and a group of well-known artists (76 painters and 54 experts) as its members, forming an important force in the fields of creation, education and research in Chinese painting circles. Participating in the annual show are big names such as Zhang Daoxing, Xie Zhigao, Man Weiqi, Zhang Fuxing, Bai Yunxiang and Miao Zaixin. In Man’s “Spring in Miao Village,” rather than adhering to traditional Chinese painting conventions, he employs a decorative method to render the fresh, peak-green spring ambiance in a Miao minority mountainous village. Man, a 65-year-old Tianjin native, is a traditional Chinese painting graduate who prefers painting the mountains, streams and villages in southwestern China’s Miao and Dong ethnic areas. Such sceneries are rarely seen in traditional ink and wash paintings and therefore make his paintings quite unique. However, thanks to his profound foundation in traditional painting methods, he has the ability to skillfully balance traditional painting and modern art styles. In his paintings, we can also find the beauty of implication and the spiritual realm that we find in traditional Chinese works. Zhang Daoxing, aged 84, from Hebei Province, is famous for figure paintings, most of which are in exaggerated shapes and fashions. In his “Huidong Girl,” he applies color blocks to the exaggerated body shape, which enhances the sense of form and makes it take on a modern look. Appreciating his vivid, poetic and passionate scholar paintings, one would totally forget Zhang’s age. Bai Yunxiang, born in 1956, also a native of Hebei Province, is good at modern shanshui painting. “Vast and boundless mountains, casual yet magnificent, powerful strokes” are words one would come across his/her mind when watching his “Mountain in Autumn Again.” Besides elderly participants, there are also younger generations. Li Encheng, from Shandong Province, was born in 1974. In “Swans,” he uses the wet painting technique to create soft edges, making the swans lifelike, a good example that Li can play quite well with the method. There are only three days left before the exhibition closes. Come catch a glimpse of today’s Chinese paintings! Dates: Until March 31 Venue: Shenzhen Art Museum, inside Donghu Park, Luohu District (罗湖区东湖公园内深圳美术馆) Metro: Line 5 or 7 to Tai’an Station (太安站), Exit A and then take a taxi | 