Wang Haiying

    377073310@qq.com

    PRESENTING more than 300 pieces of the most representative and influential works created by artists in the past 70 years in Guangdong, a province leading China in fine arts, a major exhibition entitled “My Motherland and I: Exhibition of Outstanding Guangdong Artworks Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China” is currently being held at Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou through Oct. 27. The exhibition is a demonstration of the extraordinary talent possessed by artists hailing from the South China province. 

    Brilliant light

    Bathed by a strong and radiant sun of South China all the year round, Guangdong artists are extremely sensitive to the use of lighting and shading techniques in their works to produce appealing visual effects. For instance, one copperplate at the exhibition “Casting Steel Ingot” by remarkable pioneer of Chinese copperplate printing Chen Xiaonan implements a stark contrast between black and white to depict a dazzling blaze in a workshop that also illustrates the enthusiasm of the workmen. 

    Compared with copperplate, lithograph is more capable of expressing soft moonlight or starlight. For example, making use of the refined texture of lithograph print, Zheng Xingqiu’s brilliant lithograph “Eternal Moon: Opening,” a winner of the excellence award at the Ninth Chinese National Fine Arts Exhibition, presents serene and mysterious moonlight shinning through the arched doorway of an ancient Hakka building in Fujian Province, highlighting the beauty and profundity of traditional Chinese architecture. The artist exquisitely depicts the distinct textures of stone, wood and water surfaces, which make the mild moonlight reflected upon them appear realistic and poetic.

    Similarly, the splendid lithograph “Pursuing My Dreams” by Zheng Feng portrays a tiny couple wearing butterfly wings riding on the back of a big dragonfly over a vast plain of flowers and exotic plants accompanied by a little rabbit and a huge divine bird, creating a fascinating wonderland illuminated by dreamy starlight.

    Elegant colors

    The subtropical climate of Guangdong abundant in sunlight also gives bloom to various plants with colorful blossoms, and Cantonese artists enjoy more chances to behold colorful nature even in winter, which inspires them to make works with diverse, graceful colors. For example, the oil painting “Sunny Ancient Harbor” by He Jiannin uses thick paint and large patches of bright yellow and orange to exaggerate the brilliant sunshine at Xuwen Harbor, a southern promontory of the Chinese mainland.

    Cantonese artists prefer bright colors, even when they depict winter scenery. The winter scene in Lin Ruoxi’s colored ink-wash painting series “Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter,” which won the bronze award at the Seventh Chinese National Fine Arts Exhibition, beautifully represents an imaginary plant with elegant blue leaves, conveying a sense of coolness. By displaying a harmonious contrast between warm and cool colors, Lin distinguishes the different feelings that people have in the four seasons, generating a visually-pleasing combination of four decorative paintings.

    A harmony of colors can also be achieved by the matching bright and neutral hues. For instance, in Zhuo Dehui’s lacquer painting “Little Path,” the purplish-red occupying the background is set off and beautified by the three neutral colors of white roofs, gray houses and dark tree trunks.

    Beautiful forms

    Inhabiting a relatively hot area in South China, people from Guangdong often wear less in all seasons, which provides more opportunities for artists to appreciate, study and portray the attractive physical figures of humanity in public spaces. The extraordinary oil painting “Shower in the Afternoon” by Zhang Jun is a typical example. This work realistically illustrates a scene in a coffee bar detailing several girls with long curly hair and wearing short pants or braces skirts who radiate fashionable, youthful charm. The soft light shining on the delicate skin of the three girls in the middle expressively stresses their winsome prettiness.

    Concise styles can also be expressive. For example, the woodcut “A Thousand Palm-leaf Fans” features a concise line-drawing style by the renowned Chinese printmaking artist Yang Nawei and excellently employs fluent and melodious curves to show a young lady’s charming eyes and graceful figure hidden in her long-sleeve shirt.

    Masculine attractiveness is embodied in the sculpture “Meditating,” an excellence-award-winner at the Sixth Chinese National Fine Arts Exhibition. Created by Wei Zhenzhong, the sculpture is carved out of a tree-trunk, presenting the head of a handsome policeman who is pondering the evidence of a case.

    “Many of the works in the exhibition are classics in the history of Chinese fine arts, which showcase Guangdong artists’ exceptional gifts and splendid achievements in creating enchanting beauty with extreme grace and elegance,” remarked Wang Shaoqiang, director of Guangdong Museum of Art.

    (The author is a researcher at Guangdong Museum of Art.)

    Free entry with valid ID.

    Venue: Halls 1-12, Guangdong Museum of Art, 38 Yanyu Road, Ersha Island, Guangzhou

    Dates: Until Oct. 27 

    Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday

    Tel: (020) 8735-1468

    Website: www.gdmoa.org