Chinese and Italian artists share ideas

From the aloe vera and cactuses growing on the beach, to the boats floating on the sea and the farmers plowing the fields — the moment visitors step into the exhibition hall, they find themselves immersed in the sunny scenery of the Italian island of Sicily.

But this is a combined exhibition of different styles, and as visitors ascend the stairs, they are greeted by something completely different. One painting shows the tree of knowledge of good and evil, guarded by traditional Chinese gods, its painting style an homage to Picasso.

Entitled Collision, Conversation and Fusion, this dual exhibition is hosted by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. It presents works by two artists — Italian painter Lorenzo Chinnici and Zhu Wei, executive director of the university's Tsung-Dao Lee Center of Sciences and Arts.

According to Zhu, the title of the exhibition sums up the process of cultural exchange, from embracing differences to drawing from the strengths of one another.

The two artists are very different, from their life experiences to their artistic styles. The works of Chinnici fall into the genre of new realism, which emerged in the late 1950s and '60s and aims to connect with urban life through common objects. Zhu primarily explores the realm of contemporary art, which reflects the complex issues of our age.

Born into an impoverished family, Chinnici was raised by his mother in the small city of Meri in Sicily. Although he received instruction from other Italian painters, he never undertook formal training at an art academy.

"Chinnici's works are highly intuitive. They may not exhibit flawless technical accuracy, but precisely because of this, his creations transcend the boundaries between the art and the heart, possessing the power to move the audience," Zhu says.

Zhu adds that his painting style, unaffected by the academicism of the Western tradition, can also serve as an inspiration for Chinese art students to exercise their creativity and pursue more expressive approaches to painting.

When Chinnici turned 40, he lost vision in his left eye, and in the past two decades, the sight in his right eye has deteriorated due to macular degeneration.

Despite this, he continues to paint at the age of 81, expressing his sentiments by depicting the traditional lifestyle, natural landscape and people in the region of Sicily as well as throughout Italy.

Traveling has become difficult for him, so he was unable to attend the premiere in person. Instead, his son Francesco Chinnici served as his representative and gave a lecture about his works.

Lorenzo Chinnici tells China Daily: "I am very excited to have had the opportunity to collaborate and exhibit my works in China with Zhu Wei, one of the greatest contemporary masters of the art world. My exhibited paintings were personally selected by the master.

"The message is to convey the essence and culture of Sicilian and Italian art through my works. My colors speak of the Mediterranean, its smells and flavors."

While Lorenzo Chinnici has lived beside the sea most of his life, Zhu worked as a professor of art academies and moved to the United States in 1997, hosting solo exhibitions and giving lectures in both China and the US.

This dual exhibition incorporated representative works from his key series, focusing on topics that encompass the cultural views of the East and the West, humans' relationship with the environment and transformations of lifestyles and society.

Since he started working at the university in 2017, Zhu stressed integrating science and art, a concept promoted by the renowned physicist and former professor of the university, Tsung-Dao Lee. He has been designing and producing a series of events titled Conversation with Masters. For each season, the university invites international musicians and artists to host concerts and exhibitions.

The dual exhibition, which started on May 23 and runs to the end of August, marks a restarting of the series after a pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"From this exhibition, I hope that we will deepen our cultural exchanges with Italy, further strengthen Lee's emphasis on both science and art in education and provide students from our university a fruitful art experience," Zhu says.