Artists re-create 'gongbi' spirit with a contemporary approach

A gongbi work by Luo Xiang at the ongoing 10th National Exhibition of Chinese Gongbi Art. [Photo provided to China Daily]

More than 100 works that artists nationwide have produced in the past three years occupy nine exhibition halls at the National Art Museum. The show opened on Friday afternoon.

Niu Kecheng, vice-chairman of the Beijing-based Chinese Gongbi Art Society, the exhibition's organizer, says the show focuses on the variations of gongbi art, not in the realm of traditional techniques but in the context of contemporary life and tastes. It hails the value of craftsmanship that needs to be developed by people today.

"The artists (at the show) facilitate as many working approaches as possible to enrich the conceptual features of gongbi, such as collage and rubbing. And they do not limit their creativity to paper and silk but also incorporate other materials," he says.

Hang Chunxiao, one of the exhibition's curators, says the exhibition does not invite viewers to judge whether a painting is good or valuable.

"We need to focus on the stories behind the works, what the artists were thinking about when they were working and how they attempted to challenge our aesthetic stereotypes to understand cultural traditions," he says.

The exhibition features two projects to give viewers a historical context of a famous painting. During the exhibition, which runs through Jan 3, students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts will reproduce and complete a copy of a magnificent fresco at the Yongle Temple in Shanxi province, which is recognized as a brilliant example of figure painting in the gongbi style.

With the assistance of virtual-reality technology, people can "enter" Qianli Jiangshan Tu (A thousand li of rivers and mountains), a blue-and-green mountain-and-water scroll by Song master Wang Ximeng that ranks among the top 10 classical Chinese paintings.

If you go

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays, through Jan 3, 2017. 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.