"Beauty, Weapon and Beast" is the first solo exhibition at the new Andrew James Art gallery from June 30 to July 29 at 39 Maoming Rd N. Paintings by 24-year-old Zhou Yilin feature bikini-clad girls, a submarine, warplane and a pregnant gorilla, writes Jenny Hammond.While Beijing is the acknowl-edged art capital of China today, the Shanghai art scene is maturing and some say it's the place to be."Shanghai is the future capital for art in China," says Andrew James, director of the Andrew James Art gallery, which holds its first major solo exhibition showcasing one of the country's new talents.The show by 24-year-old Zhou Yilin is titled "Beauty, Weapon and Beast," opening today. Interpreting the title, one viewer sees bikini-clad Chinese girls (beauty), a very long submarine (weapon), and pregnant gorilla (beast) - among other things.Having worked in the UK for five years in the art industry in a well-known auction house, Bonhams, James moved to Shanghai in 2006 to study the contemporary Chinese art market.Although English himself, his link with China was forged with his fascination with Oriental culture and was then heightened by his Chinese wife Jing."Before we moved to China, we started to hear about Chinese contemporary art while still in London. We came here and by going around galleries and exhibitions we got really into it. We chose to do it full-time here," the Englishman says.James, who opened the gallery in March, says he chose Zhou's work for the first major show because "it is fresh, vibrant and cool. This artist has both the skill and the personality to be a successful artist."They met "by fate," the 28-year-old James continues. James and his wife met him through Zhou's schoolmate whose grandmother lives next door to Jing's parents in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. These days Zhou is receiving quite a bit of attention in both China and abroad.The "Beauty, Weapon and Beast" show of 12 paintings is Zhou's first exhibition. They will be shipped later to Berlin for an exhibition.The contemporary images contain Chinese elements and bear Chinese characters. But Zhou declines to discuss their meaning."It is not my intention to describe my style in words, which would lock up the characteristics of my paintings," Zhou says. "Individuals would have their own opinion on my style by looking at my work. And this opinion should not be told by me or anyone else. It would be best to look at the pictures yourself."Declining to express his feelings through words and not paint, the young artist already has strong ideas. "Each person should see different things in my paintings in relation to their own experiences. Besides, each painting is different."Zhou is quite adamant, saying that 80 percent of critics have made up their minds and he need not comment further.Zhou graduated in 2006 from the China Art Academy in his hometown of Hangzhou, capital city of neighboring Zhejiang Province.Explaining how he got into art, he says, "I have always liked to paint, it's free and easy. When I was young I didn't know what art was and what belonged to the realm of art. I just liked doing what I was doing and then realized later that it was called art. Then I thought, okay, what I liked and was passionate about is called art. Anyway, I will continue trying, exploring, imagining, thinking about my passion."Now he uses everything in life as inspiration for his work - "the weather, films, music, printed documents, the Internet, food, some imagination about a particular emotional state, interesting traditional things, folklore, mystery, pornography, agitated scenes and images."What viewers will feel and say on viewing his works doesn't interest him. "I just want to express what I want to express through my paintings. Only viewers themselves know how they feel about my work. If they are willing to tell or describe it to me, I am happy to hear. It is too subjective to say what I want viewers to get out of my work," the young artist says.