Oil painting came to China over one hundred years ago. Despite its Western roots, the medium is favored by generations of Chinese painters trying to infuse a fresh elan and personality. But it's no longer a mimicry of Western practices and theories, as can be clearly seen in a new exhibition at the National Art Museum of China.

Transforming Pictures--Contemporary Representation of Traditional Thoughts seeks a Chinese identity in a heterogeneous form. This artistic import is often viewed as the promoter of a democratic and modern artistic scene in China. Opinions vary as to the localization of Western oils and finding a solution is the task of the current exhibit.

The 12 painters being exhibited share a common background because of their education in orthodox Chinese higher institutions of fine arts. They refused to be classified through any established schools of style.

The artists are against following Western practices blindly nor do they distance themselves with a nationalistic stance. The paintings are their experiences at the start of the new millennium, but executed with a sense of traditional aesthetics in mind.

Curator Cao Xiangyuan said, "China and West should not confront, we for centuries have learned from each other, the only issue is we need to recognize each other."

The curator has insisted the genre can only be transformed through a paraphrasing of Chinese ideas and a thorough understanding of the canvas. The paintings on display, some are landscapes resembling Chinese water colors, some are interplay of colors which border on abstractionism, are thought to reflect the artists' own temperament and different ways of execution.

It could not be one man's effort to bring Chinese oil paintings out of its current dilemma. But the works on display have demonstrated the collective efforts to seek for recognition and infuse a Chinese identity in the borrowed genre.

Transforming Pictures--Contemporary Representation of Traditional Thoughts runs until July 18th.