Ke Kanfa's paintings on the exhibitionThe 1980's of China was a breaking era in this ancient country's contemporary history. Reform and opening brought earth-shaking changes in every aspect of people's lives. With China's one-child family plan policy, most of the children born in the 80's became "little emperors" within their families. These children were given good education and comfortable lives, and at the same time, too much doting from their parents. Twenty years has passed by and the most rapid economic growth of their motherland has taken place. These kids were exposed to all kinds of western culture and lifestyle as it poured into China. "Little emperors" were confronted with conflicts between tradition and modernity. These children were growing up with distinct individualities and brand new views of the world. In the following twenty years, those born in the 80's will set up their own families, have babies, and take the major responsibilities that life hands them. Undoubtedly they will change China and the world. It is inevitable to pay attention to the generation of this giant country. Much different from their parents, this generation leads a fast-paced, diversified and international lifestyle. They chat, shop and even find lovers through the Internet. However, they can't fully communicate, even, with their parents. They are crazy for Japanese cartoons and digital products while having strong anti-Japan tendency emotionally. They enjoy Taiwanese singer Jay Zhou's songs of traditional Chinese music style and are also addicted to KFC and McDonald from the western world. They are confident, but fragile as well. Just as any generation before, or even more, they are filled with dilemmas. We were impressed by Liu Xiang's success when he won China's first Olympic 110-meter hurdles Championship, but also shocked by Ma Jiajue when he cruelly killed his four classmates in Yunnan University over a quarrel. Both of them are from the generation born in the 80's. Ke Ronghua and Ru Chuangye's paintings on showThe youngsters eager to make their voices heard feel what they are thinking and saying is still a little bit powerless and naïve. This feeling is demonstrated in the painting exhibition held by local art magazine "Galary" in Huihao Art Salon in Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou from Oct. 27th to Nov. 8th, 2007. Three graduates from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, who were born in the 1980's, exhibit their oil paintings to express views of the world and life. The cartoon-like, simple and allegorized style presents counter-traditional images. These three young artists all insisted they wanted to express their own understandings of lives with their paintings. Death, environment protection and materialism of the society all are their focuses. However, I think more life experiences and thorough thinking may make these green artists dig deeper for their future works. Just as their teacher said, "all of them are still very young. When they grow up and experience more, they definitely will have changes and improvements in their creations." Among the visitors of the exhibition, I found some members from the same generation in an association of drama lovers. They call themselves "80's Generation Troupe". The troupe takes dramas from the theater to public streets all around Guangzhou. They dress up and play spontaneously in public, which triggers different reactions and evaluations from the society. Some love it, some hate it, some join them and some drive them away. They don't care what people say and they are just doing it as their experiment with life and living in their own ways. The 80's generation has grown up and began to show their talents. Time will finally give its fair evaluation of them. What we need to do now is just wait and see.