Guan Yong’s Solo Exhibition named “Whose new age?” opens at New Age Gallery on 14th，July---12th, Aug，2007.Today, in the 21st century, with the high-speed development of economy, a consumptive culture prevails. This brings about new blessings as well as new crisis.As people become increasingly indulged in a fantastic hedonism, they are also confronted with terrifying threats. They begin to view the contemporary society rationally and reflectively. As in Europe and the United States, the high-speed development of economy in China breeds a huge group with distinctive Chinese characteristics——the “emerging class”. Their existence, their thoughts, their demands, and their ideas are stimulating and changing all aspects of China, including economy and culture. Their impacts are enormous.Artists today should have enough sensitivity to detect and depict this new change in Chinese society and the characteristics and merits of this emerging class. Chinese literati, greatly influenced by Confucianism, share the same ideals, roles and values. They have their spiritual symbols and sense of historical responsibilities, which vary with each era but remain strong all the time. In light of this, I put forward the elitist ideas and noble moral virtues of this emerging class and their sense of historical responsibility and spiritual symbolism .The emerging class of the 21st century should share the ideals, roles, values and sense of responsibility of this era. They should have their own distinctive characteristics. They are no longer simply a class of wealth, but should have their own values and inclinations. The emerging class is the pilots on the orbit of the era. Their important social function is to serve as guides and maintainers.Guan Yong’s figures all display the marks of his individualistic artistic language and highlight especially the symbolic dimension of this semiotized language. The bodies, deliberately distorted by stretching, reveal the figures’ noble morality and inner spiritual qualities. Spotlight-like lighting creates deserted and fantastic dramatic places and scenes that set off the nobility and mysteriousness of the figures.Flatly painted planes contrast strongly with each other and dominate the whole painted surface, which reduces the detail and shows the figures’ nobility and loftiness. The bright and intense colors of the planes enhance the richness, saturation and purity of the painted surface. The dominating colors (pure red, black and yellow) show the symbolic nature and unique aestheticism of Chinese culture, highlight the emerging class’s distinctive Chinese characteristics and at the same time produce in the works a strong visual tension. Red is the color that best represents China and is also regarded by Chinese folks as a symbol of luckiness and happiness. Therefore, it is a symbol of China, happiness and the traditional culture. Yellow is regarded in China as “the color of the center” and the symbol of the earth, therefore it is lord of colors. Yellow is also a symbol of the Chinese nation, the color of kings, and a celestial color. Black. In ancient China, black is the king of all colors and the color that has the longest history of worship. Traditional Chinese painting put emphasis on the use of black, which best embodies the philosophical tenets of the philosophy of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu and Zen Buddhism.