Sichuan artist looks behind the facade of old buildings

Talented artists can make mundane objects seem interesting and full of mystery.

Sichuan artist Wang Zhihong's newest paintings, now on display at 798 XYZ Gallery, have done just that, targeting buildings and apartment blocks in third-tier Chinese provincial cities, like those of his hometown of Luzhou, in Sichuan province.

Wang grew up there in the 1960s and 1970s in a large family. He credits his father, who was a publicist at a factory, for supporting his artistic leanings. Wang says that while life in these decades was not easy, people then had a "special spirit". That spirit was forged by communal living.