Colorful creations

Water Cube Beijing, 111x121cm, oil painting, 2012, by Chen Xiao. Photo provided to China Daily

Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, 56-year-old Chen had been interested in fine arts since childhood. Because of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), he had to work in villages and didn't receive formal art training until 1973. But during his free time while in the villages, he read up extensively about western art which formed the foundation of his creations.

From 1978 to 1987, he worked as a professional artist for the Zhejiang television studios and the Art and Culture Institutes of Hangzhou city. He also traveled around China to observe the landscapes and architectures, and they served as the main inspiration for his paintings.

At that time, it was a trend for Chinese artist to pursue their dreams overseas. Chen landed in Australia in 1986, but decided to move to New Zealand in 1988, which he describes as matching his artistic dream.

"The country looked like a hidden paradise on the planet, especially the natural sceneries, which reminded me of the villages I had worked in for years," he says.

Chen's first public artwork was painting a massive 19-meter high by 100-meter long soya sauce advertisement. It ran along the side of a building in downtown Auckland, New Zealand.

In March 1997, New Zealand Herald columnist Tessa Laird gave the bottles her personal public art award, saying "this monstrous edifice, which looks as though it were dreamed up by a Chinese Andy Warhol, makes heading to the North Shore almost worthwhile".

Throughout 1998, Chen sketched and painted what he saw and felt about Auckland. 

He handed his works to art critic Warwick Brown, who considered his work to be interesting and worth exhibiting.

"He paints famous buildings and landmarks, but he is not a realistic artist in the traditional Chinese style. His style is expressionist," Brown says of Chen's works.

Humor is also an important element in Chen's paintings. "He makes these time-honored structures bend and strain, as if they are trying to break free of their foundations and go on a spree. Chen’s odd colors, active brushworks and lively paint surface results in strong pictures with staying power," says Brown.

Although he has lived abroad for two decades, Chen says his love for landscapes was first inspired by traditional Chinese landscape brush paintings.

"Chinese artists used landscape paintings not just as representations of the real world but to express the inner landscape in their hearts. They are paintings imbued with emotions," Chen says.

In 2011, Chen designed 56 Leap of Dragon Totems in Chinatown of Auckland, New Zealand, to depict his interpretation of Chinese culture.

"My identity as an artist is a marriage between the Chinese and Western, both in ideals and techniques," Chen says.

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News:

Chinese artist Chen Xiao adds color to Beijing's spring by launching his solo exhibition, Colorful World in the Eyes of Sean Chen. Chen's paintings combine colors and images inspired by New Zealand, where he has been living for nearly 30 years, and his home country. Chen moved to New Zealand in 1988 and graduated from the visual arts department at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University. Chen paints buildings and landscapes with colorful brush strokes. An exhibition of his paintings will tour China for four years and will end with an auction. All money will be donated to China's environmental protection organizations.

9 am-5 pm, April 9-22. National Museum of China, East of Tian'anmen Square, Beijing. 010-6511-6400.