Painter draws boundless opportunities from his art

During his travels across Europe raising awareness of Chinese art ahead of the Shanghai Expo, Chen Heliang has been turning heads with his unusual twist on traditional Chinese painting styles.

The 54-year-old painter from Shanghai is a member of a Chinese delegation of artists that has been involved in cultural exchanges since last year as part of the lead-up to the Shanghai Expo.

Unlike the set structure used in traditional Chinese calligraphy, where paintings are routinely positioned on sheets of rice paper by calculating just the right amount of blank space between the painting and its frame, Chen's work harnesses an unrestricted temperament with strokes that rush off the page.