Preface

In contemporary society, in the diverse cultural ecology with countless experimental samples of themes, styles, and techniques, it is always an unavoidable proposition for artists to explore unique painting styles, techniques, and visual language. For Liang Xingsheng, it is no exception.

As an artist who has been working in the academy for a long time, Liang Xingsheng's proposed solution is to construct an open system for himself, and always explore the direction of seeking change and innovation in inheritance. In general, it means not sticking to one corner, breaking through the limitations of regional culture, actively drawing on and absorbing the cutting-edge achievements of contemporary art from various regions in the north and south. In terms of creative expression, Liang Xingsheng's paintings in recent years have clearly diverged from those of the previous decade. This can be observed from the following two points: firstly, the comprehensive application of ink, color, and lines has been elevated to a new state. On the basis of exploring pure ink figure painting, he further demonstrated the effectiveness of color in the picture; The use of ink painting is not as focused on brushstrokes and blocks as in the past, but rather on the unique texture and fun of ink spreading out with deformation; The lines abandon the previous sense of heaviness and turn towards a refined and simple feeling. Both, the painting theme becomes grand and narrative oriented, drawing attention back to ordinary individuals and focusing on the characters around them. Focusing on grassroots people such as urban construction workers or production builders has been a common theme in the art world over the past decade. Although it may be a strategy to pay attention to social reality, it can easily fall into a vague and repetitive style. Liang Xingsheng pays attention to the living conditions of people around him through sketching, endowing realistic themes with more authentic connotations. The combination of multiple factors, from techniques to themes, has ultimately formed a new style of Liang Xingsheng's figure paintings that highlights the prominent image, blends ink colors, and is full of interest and modernity at present.

This exhibition, which focuses on the creations of the past five years, is a phased summary of Liang Xingsheng's artistic exploration process. I believe that as one's understanding and thinking deepen, their artistic appearance will continue to change. Naming the exhibition "Xiaotiandi" is not only derived from one of his works with children as the theme, but also a display of the painter's artistic views. For artists, painting is a small world that is enclosed outside the chaotic world and deserves extra care to appreciate life. It is a path to realizing the self and becoming the greater self.

Lai Zhiqiang (Associate Researcher at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts)

August 2025

Organize the "Charm of Diversity: International Print Exchange Exhibition" (October). The exhibition will focus on showcasing the works of artists from Guanlan Printmaking Base and the exquisite printmaking collections of Guanshanyue Art Museum, totaling over 260 pieces, covering the creations of artists from 20 countries and regions. The exhibition aims to highlight the unique charm of the "multiplicity" of printmaking art, popularize printmaking knowledge in an accessible way, and showcase contemporary Chinese cultural confidence through international exchange and mutual learning.

Preface

Mr. Leon Lai (1929-2023), as an outstanding representative of the second generation of the Lingnan 

School of Painting and one of the leading figures in the Hong Kong art world, has had an impact on 

his artistic achievements in Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Macao.

In 1940, at the age of only 11, Liming became a disciple and trusted assistant of the master of 

Lingnan Painting School, Gao Jianfu. He not only fully inherited the innovative concept of "balancing 

Chinese and foreign cultures, integrating ancient and modern", but also deeply grasped the essence 

of brush and ink techniques and artistic spirit, inheriting innovation. In decades of continuous artistic

 exploration, Mr. Liming has always been based on imitating nature, emphasizing the practice of 

sketching, and skillfully integrating the freehand spirit of traditional ink painting with Western painting

 techniques. Through continuous refinement of his skills, he ultimately developed a unique artistic 

style: grandeur and refinement complement each other, and the fusion of color and ink showcases 

a unique charm. His works not only maintain the regional characteristics of the Lingnan School of 

Painting, but also demonstrate artistic pursuits that go beyond tradition.

As an artist with comprehensive talents and unique style, Mr. Liming's works cover a wide range 

of subjects, whether it is landscapes, flowers and birds, or characters, he is versatile in one area. 

Mr. Liming is particularly famous for his flower and bird paintings, and the birds in his works, 

such as peacocks and ducks, are vividly depicted with emerald colors and golden feathers, vividly 

interpreting the vivid and unique brushwork of Lingnan School's flower and bird paintings. Liming 

pursues a clear and elegant style that highlights the grandeur and magnificence of the painting. 

In his paintings, the magnificent feathers and agile posture of the peacock not only carry the artistic 

conception of Eastern ink painting, but also imply the brilliance of Western colors, forming a unique 

visual language of "golden and blue reflection, splendid and colorful". This vigorous artistic vitality 

indicates that Mr. Dawn is not only a firm inheritor of Gao Jianfu's innovative spirit, but his works have 

also become a unique artistic language that connects tradition and modernity, East and West.

It is worth emphasizing that Mr. Liming devoted his entire life to the promotion and development of 

the Lingnan School of Painting. He inherited the artistic spirit of Mr. Gao Jianfu, the aesthetic concepts

 and technical system of the Lingnan School of Painting, and reorganized the "Spring Tide Painting 

Society" in Hong Kong. Through continuous expansion, the art of the Lingnan School of Painting 

moved from Lingnan to the international stage, promoting the inheritance and innovation of this art 

school in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. He has become an important cultural 

ambassador in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao region, especially forming cultural resonance 

between Hong Kong and Guangdong. Since its opening, the Guan Shan Yue Art Museum has been 

continuously implementing the planning, research, and exhibition work of the "Guan Shan Yue and 

Lingnan Painting School Research" series of exhibitions, and in recent years has been deepening 

cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao regions. The "Embracing the Past and Present: Dawn Research

 Exhibition" is an extension of the depth and breadth of Lingnan painting research through case 

studies. We hope that this series of activities will become a link in the traditional art ecology of 

Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, and contribute to the inheritance and promotion of excellent 

traditional Chinese culture and the construction of a cultural community in the Guangdong Hong Kong

 Macao Greater Bay Area.

We would like to express our deep condolences to Mr. Leon Lai for his outstanding artistic achievement

s, noble personality charm, and immortal contributions to the inheritance and promotion of the 

Lingnan School of Painting.

Director of Guanshanyue Art Museum in Shenzhen

Chen Junyu

foreword

When the digital torrent carries the noise of contemporary art, Teacher Du Hualin uses his paintbrush as a boat, sailing upstream towards the vast depths of the Hexi Corridor. As one of China's first pioneers in design (Vice Chairman of Shenzhen Design Federation and Expert Judge of Shanghai World Expo Image Design), Teacher Du Hualin once personally shaped the visual symbols of the city, but chose to turn around at the peak. He candidly said, "After decades of moving south to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, he has become a noisy cow and horse in the city amidst impermanence." This sense of alienation from modern civilization made him resolutely put down his design drafts and carry his bags to embark on the millennium old road of the Hexi Corridor. The white snow of the Qilian Mountains, the hunting sandstorms of the Gobi Desert, and the ruins of the Silk Road, like a delayed apocalypse, awakened his primal resonance with the vast land in his bloodline. From then on, he turned around and became a pilgrim in front of the canvas, spending more than ten years deeply cultivating the northwest land, melting his attachment to his homeland and philosophical thoughts on life into every stroke of the "Hexi" series of oil paintings.

Teacher Du's oil painting world is a visual narrative about "silence and power". He abandoned the dazzling light and shadow of urban design and instead constructed a spiritual wilderness in cool gray and dark brown tones: slowly grinding out the memories of camel bells swaying along the Silk Road with fine pens, and stacking the texture of weathered rock layers with the texture of time. The ruins of the deserted village maintain a solemn silence in the twilight, but hide the throbbing of life in the cracks and shadows. Watching the dried up sand bed under the shadow in 'Entering the Western Regions', it seems like you can hear the flowing sand of time surging under the canvas; Father "is like a silent movie, telling the story of time, with delicate strokes wrapped in deep emotions, making individual memories the spiritual umbilical cord connecting the times. His works never deliberately cater to visual pleasure, but instead use an almost ascetic approach to bring the language of oil painting back to the essence of the land - those seemingly desolate images are actually warm praises of the resilience of life, and are earth poems composed with paint and texture.

In recent years, Teacher Du's artistic creations have gradually resonated on the international stage. In February alone, three major competitions were selected for coverage. His works "Entering the Western Regions" and "The Taste of Sand" were showcased at the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists, bringing the magnificence of the Silk Road and the understated Eastern aesthetics to the Palace Avenue Gallery in London; Works such as "The Great River" and "Landscape" won bronze medals in the 11th International Landscape Online Competition; Memories of Father "has been selected for the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award in 2025 and will be exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in the United Kingdom from July 10th to October 12th, 2022. The echoes on these international stages are a recognition of an artist who takes the land as his root and conveys the universal spiritual nostalgia of humanity.

foreword

Standing at the historical milestone of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Futian District, we use art as a pen to create a magnificent painting depicting the development of Futian at the Guanshanyue Art Museum in the central area of Shenzhen. This "Fireworks Scroll · Happy Futian -35th Anniversary Art Exhibition of Futian District" is not only a deep reflection on Futian's past years, but also a beautiful expectation for its future development.

Mr. Wang Kewei's specially created exhibition "Hugging Blessings in Lakes and Mountains, Radiant Fields" takes us back to the Southern Song Dynasty. In the painting, the ancestors, dressed in tattered clothes but with resolute eyes, stop in surprise on Lianhua Mountain after a long journey. This "feng shui treasure land" with abundant vegetation and mountains facing the sea carries the historical roots of Futian and demonstrates the resilient spirit of our ancestors to recuperate and expand their territory here. The Dragon Racing for the Brocade, Hundred Barges Competing for the Current focuses on the current situation. Loong Boat races on the Shenzhen River, egrets fly in the mangrove, and landmark buildings such as the distant Ping An Mansion rise from the ground, vividly interpreting the vitality and struggle spirit of Futian's modern development.

Mr. Wang Kewei's works on ancient Chinese history and general themes, as well as the creations of local artists in Shenzhen, jointly construct a rich artistic matrix in the exhibition. They showcase the historical and cultural heritage as well as the characteristics of the times of Futian from different dimensions, allowing us to see the power of inheritance and innovation of Futian in the long river of history.

Futian, from the "Feng Shui Treasure Land" in the eyes of the Southern Song Dynasty ancestors to the current international and modern urban core, has always been full of the courage to forge ahead and the spirit of inclusiveness and innovation. Here, there is both the weight of historical accumulation and the fervor of the development of the times; There is both the warmth of the world of fireworks and the heroic spirit of hundreds of boats competing for supremacy. This exhibition transforms the "financial hardcore, scientific and technological innovation genes, ecological background, and cultural soul" of Futian District into a tangible and perceptible visual language, which is a wonderful interpretation of Futian's unique charm and a tribute to the hardworking people on this land.

After 35 years of hard work, Futian District has positioned itself as the "area of excellence" and has embarked on a unique path of high-quality development in Shenzhen, a pioneer city in reform. As the central urban area and city reception hall of Shenzhen, Futian District, driven by "finance+scientific innovation+culture", perfectly integrates the hard core strength of a modern international city with the warm background of the fireworks world, becoming a vivid example of "Chinese path to modernization".

What we see here is not only the 35 years' development achievements of Futian District, but also the growth logic of a future city - with reform as the pen, innovation as the ink, and happiness as the soul, Futian District is drawing a new picture of Chinese path to modernization with the "first good responsibility".

Vice President of the Chinese Gongbi Painting Society

Vice Chairman of Guangdong Artists Association

Chairman of Shenzhen Artists Association

Chen Xiangbo

foreword

Standing at the historical milestone of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Futian District, we use art as a pen to create a magnificent painting depicting the development of Futian at the Guanshanyue Art Museum in the central area of Shenzhen. This "Fireworks Scroll · Happy Futian -35th Anniversary Art Exhibition of Futian District" is not only a deep reflection on Futian's past years, but also a beautiful expectation for its future development.

Mr. Wang Kewei's specially created exhibition "Hugging Blessings in Lakes and Mountains, Radiant Fields" takes us back to the Southern Song Dynasty. In the painting, the ancestors, dressed in tattered clothes but with resolute eyes, stop in surprise on Lianhua Mountain after a long journey. This "feng shui treasure land" with abundant vegetation and mountains facing the sea carries the historical roots of Futian and demonstrates the resilient spirit of our ancestors to recuperate and expand their territory here. The Dragon Racing for the Brocade, Hundred Barges Competing for the Current focuses on the current situation. Loong Boat races on the Shenzhen River, egrets fly in the mangrove, and landmark buildings such as the distant Ping An Mansion rise from the ground, vividly interpreting the vitality and struggle spirit of Futian's modern development.

Mr. Wang Kewei's works on ancient Chinese history and general themes, as well as the creations of local artists in Shenzhen, jointly construct a rich artistic matrix in the exhibition. They showcase the historical and cultural heritage as well as the characteristics of the times of Futian from different dimensions, allowing us to see the power of inheritance and innovation of Futian in the long river of history.

Futian, from the "Feng Shui Treasure Land" in the eyes of the Southern Song Dynasty ancestors to the current international and modern urban core, has always been full of the courage to forge ahead and the spirit of inclusiveness and innovation. Here, there is both the weight of historical accumulation and the fervor of the development of the times; There is both the warmth of the world of fireworks and the heroic spirit of hundreds of boats competing for supremacy. This exhibition transforms the "financial hardcore, scientific and technological innovation genes, ecological background, and cultural soul" of Futian District into a tangible and perceptible visual language, which is a wonderful interpretation of Futian's unique charm and a tribute to the hardworking people on this land.

After 35 years of hard work, Futian District has positioned itself as the "area of excellence" and has embarked on a unique path of high-quality development in Shenzhen, a pioneer city in reform. As the central urban area and city reception hall of Shenzhen, Futian District, driven by "finance+scientific innovation+culture", perfectly integrates the hard core strength of a modern international city with the warm background of the fireworks world, becoming a vivid example of "Chinese path to modernization".

What we see here is not only the 35 years' development achievements of Futian District, but also the growth logic of a future city - with reform as the pen, innovation as the ink, and happiness as the soul, Futian District is drawing a new picture of Chinese path to modernization with the "first good responsibility".

Vice President of the Chinese Gongbi Painting Society

Vice Chairman of Guangdong Artists Association

Chairman of Shenzhen Artists Association

Chen Xiangbo