Looking at Chen Hui’s paintings，if you are unfamiliar with the artist and her approach，you might simply think that she paints quite well，but may not feel an inclination to investigate the matter further. However，I had a singular opportunity to learn more about her，which caused me to appreciate her and her paintings from a whole new perspective and，more importantly，occasioned reflections on the multiple possibilities present in contemporary painting.

　　As a girl，Chen Hui was influenced by her father’s love of painting. From an early age，she displayed considerable talent in painting，but never particularly focused on it. After taking the national university entrance exam，she applied to the Central Academy of Fine Arts(Beijing)，but was not admitted. Instead，she enrolled at the Central Academy of Drama(Beijing)，where she majored in character design(an area of study focused on developing theatrical characters’visual attributes，including costume and make-up)in the faculty of Stage Design Arts，rather than studying painting. During this time，Chen Hui maintained her natural affinity for painting，but there was no particular strengthening of her understanding of the medium;rather it was more akin to studying a foreign language，familiarizing herself with it daily，working it out. After graduation，Chen Hui taught character design at the Communication University of China(Beiijing). She certainly never thought she would become a professional painter. She often participated in costume and make-up design for stage productions，conducting her own observations about the characters’visual qualities and facial expressions，developing a deep understanding of popular fashion culture as it relates to character design. Time passed for her very simply，without event，but the thread of the love she bears for painting has never forsaken her. As Chen Hui confided，although she never sought to become a painter，she often accompanied her husband Xia Xiaowan to meet with painter friends and chat，recounting anecdotes. She had many opportunities to observe artists creating their paintings at close quarters. It is not true that Chen Hui had never considered painting，or that she lacked the requisite conditions，but rather that，having never studied painting as a major，she doubted whether she was endowed with the necessary ability. Nor did she experience any particular need，because she was unclear as to what she should paint. The more she saw and gained in character and understanding，the less she knew how to set about painting after all those years spent in the arts as a mere companion to her husband. Ten long years had elapsed with days of this kind，but her love of painting played on and on like music in her heart，soft and faint，heard emanating from a deep well within her personal consciousness.

　　At the same time，Chinese contemporary art was becoming all the rage. There is no doubt that Chinese contemporary art is the hybrid fruit of exchanges between China and the world，primarily the West，and also comes as a result of the development of China’s own intrinsic social and cultural logic. Without the backdrop of this globalization，China would never have opened up to its current multiplicity of themes for study and discussion. Take painting as an example：this underwent a thousand-year historical development in the West，transiting through many heretical and revolutionary shifts，and culminating in modernism，when some proclaimed the demise of painting or，after crossing over into post-modernism，that painting had lost its lustre. In actuality，in terms of the evolution of media，painting has been enervated，vitiated and denied at different times，and all of this has had its positive significance in the sense that painting has never dwindled away and is still with us to this day. But in terms of its significance to human existence，painting-in the wake of post-modernism-is assuming an ever-greater prominence，and a sea change may also be noted in that painting is now presenting a more independent technique.

　　Though we pose questions regarding what the present age means and what contemporary art is，Chen Hui，who is naturally quiet and demure，has never particularly sought to do so. But in order to qualify for a promotion in academia，one needs to hold post-graduate credentials，and so she enrolled in an advanced painting course. Chen Hui has always looked upon the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts with awe and reverence，but-as she jokes-she was timorous and feared its grand masters，not to mention her husband’s classmates，who were all teachers there. She felt her less-than-good painting would abash her;therefore，she quickly decided to enroll at the graduate school of China National Academy of Art(Beijing). Ultimately，she felt that when she graduated，she would take with her nothing more than a diploma. She never fantasized about becoming an artist. For admission to this program，she had to submit a work. Therefore，without thinking about it too much(or perhaps not quite daring to)，she painted a character portrait，“Xiao Q”，drawing from her individual encounters with all manner of people，some of whom were expecting her to work a beautifying alchemy on them. This painting won resounding critical acclaim from the teachers. Chen Hui was astonished by the response，and also surprised that her aspiration to paint had survived，and that she had begun to master a highly visual painting style. Moreover，this work also allowed Chen Hui to project her mental picture outward and，most importantly，to link together and manifest what had been latent，hidden in her id for all those years，to mobilize and deploy this nebulous consciousness of painting. A volcano may look placid and dormant viewed from the outside，but when its force has inexorably built up，pent up deep beneath the Earth’s crust，after it erupts it can never be reined in or restrained. It is likewise akin to a brook that trickles along until，rounding a bend，it finds its confluence with another stream，and thereby gains the bamboo-smashing might，waxing to become the turbulent，ferocious flood that spends its power over myriad leagues. The release of freedom after the bottling up of such force detonates an inexorable explosion. Such secreted things，like that which Chen Hui had for so long kept hidden deep within her，usually languish away，locked forever in mystery，except when sometimes released，whereupon breathtaking treasures then come to light.

　　Artistic ability is a hidden gift from god，and among humanity’s most precious treasure trove，and its cultivation，discovery and even expectation have all kept humankind in fellowship，faring together down the same road. This then is a form of freedom，liberating humanity. It is freedom of self-consciousness，transliterated into art. To liberate ability of this sort confers a behavioral freedom，which in turn spawns unbounded artistic imagination. Chen Hui is a case in point: her experience serves as an illustration of such liberation of freedom，but it also catalogues the changes contemporary painting is undergoing as it mutates.

　　From this，Chen Hui has assumed an all-new look: she has newly found within herself a place for her soul’s artistic imagination to lodge. This is also new in that it emanates not from the midst of her paintings，but rather pervades the core of her work. She is very close to her paintings，but also very far away. Close up，she and her paintings do not forsake one another，and thus they have the most conscious，the most natural feel. She has listened ceaselessly，filled with her visions of painting. From afar，she has never entered into that most complex，most redoubtable citadel of art，so she does not make herself anxious as she daubs corrections，since one should not become entangled in conventions. It is this very state that allows Chen Hui to maintain a sublime sense of artistic feeling and imagination. Her gentle temperament should not be mistaken for mediocrity;what appears to be inertia does not equate with inactivity. The key is that in these times of inactivity she is moving her heart. She is not actively painting，but at another level she is working，engaged in observing，absorbing experiences. The course of Chen Hui’s painting studies was not entirely devoid of painting skills. Lighting，costume，make-up and stage design consisted of one type，observation was another，but all of these lie outside the category of standard painting techniques. Chen Hui is intent and determined，but technique fills her with awe and dread，so she dares not get too carried away with technique，but quietly awaits attendance on numerous social encounters，human joys and sorrows. When she does start painting，these life experiences transform into gorgeous scenes her brush describes. They appear to recount tales，but these are ephemeral affairs，an aggregate of sundry social circumstances seen through a temporal perspective glass. They are bright and gaudy，but grotesque and burlesque. The artist eschews abstract rhetoric in diagnosing the ills in contemporary public life，but uses a typical vision to describe her feelings about life and as an allegory for the state of worldly affairs.

　　Chen Hui’s paintings uniquely arrest their human figures，capturing their restless，meandering eyes that never alight on any one point，full of loss，full of thought. Most vignettes play out in an unnameable terra incognita. The figures’ bright，eager expressions are powerless to mask their discomfiture at being interned in such squalid，chaotic tableaux to which modern consumption has banished them，as in Gleaners and On Fire. In paintings such as A Rousing Tour in the Park，Playing Water and Delighted，the scenes suggest absurd implications. The environment and her subjects’ behaviors indicate endless disharmony and discord，but there is no lack of involuntary，helpless humor，either. Chen Hui is adept at snatching portraits from out of modern human existence，using them to reflect the current conditions of prosperity and the slavish pursuit of fashion(Twitter Time)，images of degradation(Mengmeng)，the venting of heartfelt anxiety(Reduce Internal Fire)，and a complete subversion and jeer against classical grace(Please Call Me Loli). Chen Hui’s selection of these scenes is fraught with the ramifications and alienations of various life experiences. Though they appear quiet，they are rife with surliness and even conflict，and thus inform us that the artist is using her paintings as a vehicle to describe her interpretation of the world，thus requiring neither a logical explanation nor an attitude of reason. With no sense of distance，she induces a failure of instantaneous verbal logic，and enables a tight grip on our shared sense of being in such an environment;she then goes on to create the record of a transient reality to justify this narrative. There are no constants here，no towering utopias，only birth and passing away.

　　What Chen Hui wants to grasp and express is a state of ineffable wildness. Thus she opens up a refuge sheltering those bowed down and crushed by the significations of commonplace visual experiences. It was from blind instinct that she entertained this doubt and resistance，and thus only by moving beyond her safely zone could she more closely approach her freedom of expression. Painting and grandiloquent contemporary art stand nowadays in particular need of decompression，an unshackling of the manacles，and they clamor especially for a return to the essence of life. When the power of reason becomes overbearing，one needs living emotions and intuitive experience as an aid to digestion，but Chen Hui applies her own life experiences to achieve such digestion. We will be surprised at what Chen Hui has created，and must give way to a hearty chuckle. The meaning of life is not about being bound in the usual prison，but rather lies in a natural posture，but this is a real scarcity. This is not because we know too little and so seek nature，but because we have been told too much and have thereby lost the experience and reality of existence. Art must heal by ignorance;only then may we return to the original source: that of life itself.

　　With her simple approach，Chen Hui has created the world she perceives，thereby unleashing the liberation of freedom. This adds new meaning and novel ability to today’s painting，expanding the range of the capability of direct representation by drawing it back to its narrative skills. Simple facts，however，no longer form this narrative;it has become a psychological narrative，a rhetorical narrative，the ideal underlying a new narrative of resurrection. A contemporary reality of visual innovation，it generates a new worldview，one that enriches our perception time and again. Chinese contemporary art had just such a birth as this，creating bright new stars. By showing us such a diverse point of view，Chen Hui’s paintings enable us to understand the new freedom she has conferred on art.