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.