Internationally renowned artist Fang Lijun, a leader of China's "cynical realism" movement, is known for his iconic bald heads expressing rogue humor, ennui or pain. See his latest works at Shanghai Art Museum, writes Wang Jie.What is important for an artist? Art, one might say. But Fang Lijun says no."Art is not important" - this is what the "big brother" of Chinese contemporary art says, ironically. But that's what we would expect from one of the leaders of the "cynical realism" movement that began in the early 1990s.Internationally renowned Fang, 44, is especially well known for his oil paintings of bald men with bizarre, ambiguous or bored expressions.His solo exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum features around 30 oils, sculpture, ink-wash and installation art - all demonstrating his remarkable status in the art community. Some works are on view for the first time.Born in Handan, Hebei Province, Fang was schooled in socialist realism and graduated from the print department of the Central Academy of Fine Art in 1985 and is known for his superb draftsmanship."I still remember when we were having classes on the human body in university; all the students had found their favorite angles," recalls Fang, who is now based in Beijing. "I was late, so the only place was near the model. I could not even look at the whole, not to mention accurately composing and drawing."But I felt the model's temperature, which pushed a special impulse inside my heart. While others were searching for the right angle, I was the only person to feel the secret. What is most importance to a human body? It is temperature, not shape. Suddenly my conceptual understanding was opened."In the early 1990s, Fang discovered his "face," a face that attempts to break out from among a thousand others.It is a visage not only numb to others but equally numb to itself in what he calls a "treacherous and uniformed era" when people were eager to betray and to forsake tradition and ideals.Like many of his peers, Fang experienced the joys and pains of an underground avant-garde artist for quite a long time."I know I have to create a strong and impressive image to attract attention," Fang says. "When I look back, I think the 'bald head' perfectly captures my role in the society at that time. The individual was not respected in the powerful collective."Although Fang's "bald head" image has virtually become an icon in Chinese contemporary art history, he extends his original meaning of these bald heads to cover a wider range today."Bald heads" could be babies, criminals and policeman. Because of their uniform, hairless appearance, the differences and distinctions between them is blurred. Fang uses collective bald heads to represent the concept of humanity.For example, an installation features a "huge baby" - the size of a real adult - lying in a plastic transparent ball on which insects are painted. Babies represent innocence, but both the babies in the plastic ball or on his canvas wear the expression of adults: They are anxious, sad, desperate or fierce instead of naive and joyful.Fang appropriates children to convey the unspeakable pain in the world."I use art to revolve problems," Fang says. "I am sensitive to the equality among all living beings, however, freedom and equality are just dreams and mankind has yet to realize them."In some paintings, countless insects and birds fly across the canvas. The backgrounds are mostly open settings of gray clouds, a rosy glow and fog. All the living creatures are flying freely, as in a dream where there are no limitations, no troubles, no worries, no conflicts; they finally seem to achieve equality in that dream place.