Unmasking beauty
By Wu Liping (China Daily) Updated: 2007-01-05 11:31
Under violet fluorescent lights, switched on and off every
20 seconds, the paintings look mysterious. Made with two kinds of materials
which create complementary tones, the exhibits reveal their different sides
under the cast of fluorescent and normal light: a portrait of a beautiful woman
and horizontal stripes, abstract images and a modern highway, calligraphy and a
woman's silhouette, a shoal of fish and graffiti.
This is all part of the exhibition of Yang Qian's neo-painting series at the
Today Art Museum. The display combines oil paintings with installations, an
innovative take on his traditional oil works.
The second part of the show highlights oils on canvas and electric
installations. Within a metal frame two or three oil paintings with related
themes slide slowly along their respective tracks. This dynamic process brings
different enjoyment at every moment and a notion of endless cycles. Accompanied
by sounds of machinery, the works transform the static and silent art forms into
lively and vivid creations.
The third part of the exhibition focuses on the charm of traditional oil on
canvas. With most of the paintings of a blue hue, the works look misty and
humid, as if concealed behind a glass covered with water drops. As its title,
Masks, suggests, the water drops in the foreground convey a sense of enjoyment,
while the faces convey feels of resignation one of the pieces is titled Who Am
I, What Am I Doing, Where Am I Going.
Ticket: 10 yuan. Date/Time: 9 am-4 pm, until Jan 7 Location:
Today Art Museum, 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District. Tel:
010-58760600.
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