Banyan trees at Singapore Botanic Gardens among scenes depicted in China artist’s new exhibition

　　Adeline China

　　ARTS REPORTER

　　CHINESE painter Liu Guo is well-known for his majestic natural landscapes in China, but a scene from Singapore has crept into his works.

　　A cluster of banyan trees, an idealized scene from the Singapore Botanic Gardens, pops up as the subject of one work among more then 60 ink paintings now on show here by the 52-year-old master painter and art lecturer.

　　Titled Paintings Of The Four Seasons, the exhibition is on at the atrium of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts(Mica) Building at Hill Street until Aug 3.

　　While Singapore’s Botanic Gardens has inspired one of the works, most of the paintings – priced at $2,000 to $38,000-capure the awe-inspiring landscapes of the north-eastern Chinese province of Jilin.

　　Liu, a Singapore permanent resident, was born there and that is where he spends most of his time. His paintings in this exhibition celebrate the various faces of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

　　Says the head of the arts faculty at Bei Hua University and principal of the Changbai Art Academy: “There is great beauty in the change of the seasons. I want to show the interdependence of nature and people.”

　　In one painting, snow covers a mountain under a still, round moon. In another, flowers bloom in red and orange explosions of color near a flowing rapid.

　　He took four years to prepare this exhibition, trekking to Changbai Mountain in China, a volcanic mountain on the border between China and North Korea, and Song Hua river, which meanders through Jilin.

　　He did small sketches of the scenes, which he expanded later at home. He spent as long as three weeks camping in the wilderness, surviving on biscuits and forest fruit.

　　Says the father of two: “The most important thing about drawing the first sketch is to capture my feelings and the atmosphere .”

　　“I’ve been paining Changbai Mountain for over 30 years and it looks different in rain, sun, dawn and dusk. It would take me several lifetimes to capture it completely.”

　　Born into a farming family, Liu has been doing art since the age of six. During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s,he painted 20m portraits of the late Chairman Mao Tse-Tung.

　　But natural scenery is his first love. After he graduated from Jilin’s north-east Normal University, he made a name for himself as a Chinese ink landscape artist, capturing breathtaking views of places like China’s three Gorges.

　　He has exhibited in China, Taiwan, Macao, Malaysia and the United States.

　　He considers Singapore his “second home” and spends one to two months here a year. This is his first major show in the Republic after one in 2005, where he exhibited 80 works, two-thirds of which were sold.

　　He is now working on a series of woks on South-east Asian landscapes in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

　　“Nature inspires me and its beauty is eternal, unlike humans, whose beauty will fade with age.”

　　>chiata@sph.com.sg

　　>Paintings Of The Four Seasons is on at the Mica Building atrium until Aug 3.Admission is free. For more information, call 9846-2098

　　图片下的文字

　　(1) PHOTO: COURTESY OF LIU GUO

　　SEASONAL CHANGES: Liu Guo’s paintings show snow covering a mountain under a still, round moon during winter (above) while flowers bloom in spring (below).

　　(2) A TOUCH OF SINGAPORE: an idealized scene from the Singapore Botanic Gardens is among Liu Guo’s current exhibits on show here.

　　(3) ‘Nature’s beauty is eternal, unlike humans, whose beauty will fade with age’

　　(4)Chinese painter Liu Guo (above)

　　Liu Guo, alias Bing Sheng, Han nationality, born on 1st March, 1956, graduated from the Art Department Northeast Normal University, Researcher in the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts, now is the Dean of the Changbai Mountain Painting Academy, Dean of Bei Hua University Art Academy, Professor, and Tutor. Dean and President of Jilin Provincial Institute of Education Art Department, President of Singapore New Century Art Center, Honorary President of Chinese Traditional Sinology Institute, Honorary Dean of the Chinese Humanistic Institute of Calligraphy and Painting, Vice-President of Chinese Folk Artists Association, Vice-President of Jilin Province Esthetics Institute, Guest Professor of Yan Bian University, Director of Chinese Artists Association, Director of Chinese Art Institute, etc. and the World's Cultural Centers Researcher. His Chinese landscape painting influence art circles home and abroad, known as " Liu Guo Landscapes". His work “Changbai Power” is 60 meters long, and has been acknowledged as the world’s longest. He has been repeatedly invited to give large personal picture exhibitions in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the United States, Russia, South Korea and Guangzhou, Hainan, Harbin and other major cities. Involving some 2000 pieces of artworks. Many of his works have been collected by the art institutions, museums, renowned universities and private collectors from different parts of the world. He has been invited many times to lecture overseas and has students throughout the world. He published six treatises. Edited many textbooks, published 23 papers on arts education. Pro. Liu Guo’s 109 series instruction film “Learning Chinese Free-style Paintings Techniques” broadcasted at the national and provincial education television and received widespread approval. He not only has his own achievement on painting theory, but also create 12 new kinds of techniques on ink paintings, established his own unique painting language. His works have the essence of traditional painting, and modern aesthetic ideas. Pro. Liu Guo is awarded “The Twentieth Century International Famous Professor Achievement Awards” “World Famous Painting Artist”, “The International Silver Artist”, “ The Chinese Contemporary Artists”, “Jilin Province Outstanding Contribution Experts” . His art biography is collected by “World Blue Book” etc. 60 masterpieces home and abroad, is praised as China's Revolutionary Artist and Art Educator .