Art show brings color back to cold Beijing

With winter, the reds and yellows of fall fade away. But a group of artists have brought back the hues with Vivid Colors, a show in a hutong (alley) in Shichahai, an area that has lots of traditional courtyards.

The exhibition by the TRU-M art space consists of installations, sculptures, multimedia works, paintings and fabric works.

It has two sections, one in a courtyard that used to be a royal family's garden in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the other in a complex near the Houhai lake.

A large glass installation by Malaysian-American artist Michael Goo placed in the courtyard is full of colors, thanks to reflections projected from the surroundings, such as red walls, the blue sky and golden sunshine.

Goo, one of those behind the exhibition, says his inspiration comes from his eagerness to bring color back to Beijing, which is often covered with boring gray in winter.

In a hall in the courtyard are eight bronze sculptures by artist Yu Zuokun.

The Xiamen-based sculptor has devoted himself to bronze figures from traditional Chinese operas for decades, such as Guan Yu, a well-known general from the Three Kingdoms period (220-280).

Yu says his interest in figures from Peking Opera is due to his childhood experience of watching the shows in his village theater.

Zhu Lan has various colors on tapestries that are transferred from her paintings.

An ink and wash painter, Zhu also does her color works by using her ink painting skill.

In fact, her original works don't have the vivid blue, red, yellow and green that you see on the tapestries. It's a design process that she spent several years while working with the Chinese brand Tan that focuses on luxury and artistic tapestries.

There are also multimedia works using technology, a new trend in contemporary art.

For instance, visitors can play tai chi and their actions are picked up by sensors and then transformed into a white-dot-shaped robot on a big screen. Or audiences can move their hands that can be transformed into colorful waves on a screen.

According to Goo, multimedia works are a new trend, and he aims to bring more such works to the TRU-M art space.

The current show will run through Jan 31 and has no entrance fee.