Brotherhood connects varied artists

Brotherhood, Manhood is a showcase of artworks by a group Chinese artists born in the 1960s. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Tong and his 13 "brother" artists show works belonging to various media, which provide clues to review and understand the evolution of the Chinese art landscape since 1985.

Tong says it is, however, too vague and general to label these works as "contemporary art".

"Even though we were professionally trained to paint, to draw or to sculpt, our languages have already crossed the boundaries of techniques and art styles of the past and present."

He adds that art is only the manifestation of their sensitivity to their surroundings, and for his generation of artists, art has become a tool to challenge their patience and physical limitations.

One can't agree more with that perspective after seeing works of Mo Gen, a 50-year-old oil painter of the Zhuang ethnic group, who is from Guizhou province.

Since the late 1990s, he has explored by creating distinctive portraits of people in water. He uses only three colors－gray, blue and white－to present the tranquility and infinity of water.

The figures in his paintings, whether men, women or children, have no expression, and viewers have no clue of their identities, such as who they are and how they make a living.

Mo says these figures are reflections of viewers themselves, and the water represents social circumstances.