Artists brighten Wuhan scene

Looking down from the hot air balloon, tourists are amazed by a painting covering the floor in the East Lake scenic area in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province.

Covering an area of 6,000 square meters, the painting depicts a koi fish, which represents good luck in Chinese culture, and Wuhan's iconic Yellow Crane Tower.

It was created by the Super Painters, a group of young artists who paint on surfaces such as the floor, walls and electricity junction boxes to add color to public areas of the city.

The team has completed hundreds of works around Wuhan, which are found in popular scenic spots, business districts and apartment buildings. Some of the paintings are so eye-catching that passersby stop to take photos, while short videos of the paintings have gone viral on social media.

"The paintings are not only art but a window showcasing the city's spirit and culture," says Zhang Hao, 32, founder of the Super Painters.

Zhang graduated from the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts and started the team in 2016. Having lived in Wuhan for more than 10 years, he has deep affection for the city. Therefore, symbols of Wuhan are always a theme in his paintings.

"I grew up by the Yangtze River. I want to raise people's awareness of protecting the ecology through the adorable smiles of the finless porpoises," Zhang says.

When Wuhan began to renovate some old residential buildings in 2019, the team acquired a permit to put a picture of the finless porpoises on the 200-square-meter wall of one of the apartment buildings, which turned out to be a great success. Since then, the team has finished several other murals featuring the finless porpoise.

Hu Meiting, 25, a member of the team, decided to join the Super Painters when she saw the floor painting in the East Lake scenic area. "It's so cool to draw such a large picture that can only be fully appreciated high above the ground," she says.

"They chase their dreams so hard, and I'm proud to be part of the group," she adds.

Now, the team is getting more professional and has formed a standard operating procedure. "We will go on decorating our city with paintings and stick to our aim of making the city more beautiful," Zhang says.

Xinhua