Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

To celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of Red Cube in Longgang, a cultural hub combining a science hall, a public art and urban planning hall and a youth hall, two Shenzhen artists are exhibiting their works.

The “Progression and Circulation” exhibition features Shenzhen University professor Zhong Xi’s prints, ink paintings and oil paintings. The exhibition reviews the award-winning artist’s achievements over the past 30 years. “‘Progression’ refers to Zhong’s creativity, transformation and thoughts during his 30-year career. ‘Circulation’ refers to his application of Chinese calligraphy aesthetics [the tempo, shaping and harmony of strokes] into print-making,” said Chen Xiangbing, head of Shenzhen University’s Art Museum.

Zhong said an artist should be sober and develop a unique artistic language in his or her works.

“The brightness and darkness, ups and downs in Zhong’s prints present a poetic world,” art professor Sun Zhenhua wrote in his research article on Zhong.

Chen also is exhibiting his freehand oil paintings at “The Wind” exhibition in Red Cube. The freehand style is unique to the traditional Chinese ink painting, emphasizing a feeling of poetry and intensity through loose brushwork rather than detailed strokes. Since the 19th century when the practice of oil paintings began to spread in China, home-grown artists have sought to incorporate the freehand style into their creations, adapting the Western art form to a Chinese aesthetic context.

Dates: Until June 28

Hours: 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (Tue.-Thur.), 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. (Fri.-Sun.)

Venue: Public Art and Urban Planning Hall, Red Cube, 8028 Longxiang Boulevard, Longgang District (龙岗区龙翔大道8028号红立方公共艺术与城市规划馆)

Metro: Line 3 to Longcheng Square Station (龙城广场站), Exit D