| |
 |
Artist captures love and hate
|
Windy Shao
ALTHOUGH having lived abroad for over 10 years, Li Zijian always concentrates his paintbrush on China's native customs and conditions.
An exhibition of Li's paintings, entitled "Humanity and Love", is being held at the Shenzhen Museum from January 16 to 28.
It includes about 120 paintings, with over three fourths covering Chinese people: a young wife, mother and daughter, brother and sister, an old granny and more.
The title accurately sums up the theme. You can see it from the gestures of Li's subjects, or the expressions in their eyes: a young mother looking at her baby with a loving smile, a little girl carrying her younger brother on her back.
The paintings bring us back to a countryside world of long ago, when everything seemed so simple and calm: the granny is threading a needle, her grandson is sleeping under a tree, and everyone is a child of the nature.
Unlike most of Li's paintings, which exude calmness and the beauty of humanity, Li's best-known, Nanjing Massacre, shocks the viewer: a little boy crying among a pile of dead bodies while a Japanese invader's bayonet still shines with blood.
Li described the genesis of that work: "In 1992, a Taiwanese told me a story about his personal experience during the Japanese invasion. He was only 12 then, all his relatives were killed and he looked for his father among piles of dead bodies." Li was stunned and spent two months working on Nanjing Massacre. "Although it is not perfect artistically, I hold it the most important in my career," Li stressed.
Li's paintings have toured many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, France and Australia. In 1999, Li planned to open an exhibition in Japan but it was cancelled because of the sensitive nature of his most powerful work. "I'm planning to try again. I believe my paintings will be exhibited in Japan some day," Li said.
Li's paintings have toured many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, France and Australia. In 1999, Li planned to open an exhibition in Japan but it was cancelled because of the sensitive nature of his most powerful work. "I'm planning to try again. I believe my paintings will be exhibited in Japan some day," Li said.
Li's paintings have toured many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, France and Australia. In 1999, Li planned to open an exhibition in Japan but it was cancelled because of the sensitive nature of his most powerful work. "I'm planning to try again. I believe my paintings will be exhibited in Japan some day," Li said.
|
|
|
|
