Just opened is Essence of China at the Fellini Gallery. Representing five contemporary Chinese artists in collaboration with one young French artist, the exhbition implores us to reflect on the many contradictions that exist within the Chinese culture. The artists' work encompases different mediums, from oil painting, sculpture, ink colour to photography.

There's Xu Ze from the Sichuan province with several awards and group exhibitions behind him who works with oil to create landscapes of nature and villages that evoke the emotion of stillness. There are sculptures by Pang Yong who although Shenyang born, is based in Beijing. His sculptures are of women with pink hair and dressed in pink robes, their faces almost identical with round cheeks and closed eyes. Euraclus was born in France, has exhibited in several countries across Europe and  has spend the past 5 years here. Through experimentation, his artwork represents both his experiences here and the mix of cultures. His abstract work in oil on canvas uses strong colours and brush strokes. Then there's Qu Wei Wei from the Shandong province who works with ink and colour creating paintings which both reminds the viewer of older paintings while the shapes are contemporary and set against nature backgrounds of sea and trees. The only artist in the exhibition to work with photography is Tian Taiquan who also is from the Sichuan province. In all his work there's a common image of a naked body, while otherwise differentiating itself in being covered by a uniform, blood or words from newspaper prints. The exhibition catalogue states that in his work "The common theme is that through the whole human race's sacrifice, death, and the desire to search for oneself can reflect the dark reality that not only China, but also the whole world, has lost its direction in toaday's world." Huang Jin from the Hunan province,works with oil on canvas depicting bamboo,
as opposed to working with water colour or ink which traditionally would be used for this subject.

While all the work in the exhibition are beautiful in their own right, at the same time, the mixture of medium and subject matter reflect the many different aspects associated with Chinese culture. To see the work and stories hidden in the work, step of the street and into the Fellini Gallery. Art director: Jp LAM, Curator: missY Chao

FELLINI Gallery, 339 Changle Lu #15 near Xiangyang Lu, Tel:  5404-7787