Reviews: Exhibition

Striking oil

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. The Center of International Cultural Exchange, under the Ministry of Culture, is presenting a solo exhibition of oil painter Zhou Changxin's works in Hong Kong until this week.

It is said to be the largest solo oil show in Hong Kong since 1997. More than 200 pieces of Zhou's heavy-colored oil works sketch the great changes in Hong Kong over the last decade and the bright future of the country. A native of South China's Guangdong Province, Zhou has dedicated himself to the research of blending Chinese heavy-color paintings and Western oil art. The 33-year-old artist is hailed as one of the pioneers of Chinese heavy-oil oil painting.

He stunned art circles when his immense creation Soul of China (pictured), which set a record at the auction house last July in Beijing at 11.66 million yuan ($1.5 million). The painting portrayed the grand Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River is a highlight of the display in Hong Kong.

Lin Qi

(China Daily 04/17/2007 page20)