Cao Zhen caozhen0806@126.com Guilin landscape Painters from Guilin Fine Art Institute are exhibiting their exquisite paintings and calligraphic works at Guan Shanyue Art Museum, showcasing the peerless Guilin scenery through their differing styles. Since 2015, the exhibition has toured to 16 Chinese cities. Highlights of the exhibition are paintings that depict the well-known Lijiang River, the mountains along it and villagers’ houses of special wood structures. Bird-and-flowers paintings as well as paintings of other places are also on display. Long Jianzhong, Party chief of Guilin Fine Art Institute and director of Guilin Art Museum, said the painters at the exhibition are rooted in the local culture and history, especially the scenery of its mountains and rivers. “In the 11th century, Mi Fu was the earliest painter who painted Guilin’s scenery in his ‘Yangshuo Mountain.’ Shi Tao in the 15th century and many more in the 20th century also made great paintings of Guilin,” he said. Chen Xiangbo, director of Guan Shanyue Art Museum, said that master Guan Shanyue, after who the museum is named, painted “A Hundred Miles of Lijiang River” in 1942, showcasing his affection for Guilin. Jiang Shan’s artworks Jiang Shan, a train conductor-turned-artist, is exhibiting his oil paintings and ceramic sculptures at an exhibition titled “Variations,” representing his changing views on the world over the past 10 years. His exhibited paintings — the subjects of which are mostly distorted and misplaced urban buildings, machines and vehicles — are divided into two parts in two exhibition rooms. Works created 10 years ago are tough and grey, while paintings made in the past three years are mostly pink and soft. “Apart from humans and animals, buildings and machines are also important elements in cities,” said Jiang, who studied mechanics in a railway school and used to be a train conductor in Guangzhou. Thanks to his longtime hobby of painting, the Hunan native obtained his master’s degree in oil painting from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 2007. He has also served as editor-in-chief of Tencent Guangdong’s art page, curated exhibitions and participated in the founding of an art museum in Foshan. Since 2002, he began creating his urban series, focusing on the growth of buildings and motion of machines in cities to express the homogeneity, coexistence and connections of humans and machines. “Artists express their views of the world through art creations. Sometimes, they have no answers but to provide their ways and perspectives. How they view the world and how they render it will finally form their creation styles. Ten years ago, I saw the world as tough and grey, now I have changed and I see the world as soft, organic and transparent,” Jiang explained. Dates: Until May 28 Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mondays Venue: Guan Shanyue Art Museum, 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District (福田区红荔路6026号关山月美术馆) Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B | 