ART | Chinese paintings show a different Macau at the Venetian

Artists Pan Jinling (left), Mee Wong (middle) and Zhang Wang (right)

From a goddess on a calm sea to a ship full of treasures, 60 artists from Macau and mainland China have used their creativity and artistic talents to depict a different Macau. Their creations will be featured in the exhibition “A Very Different Macau – A Touring Art Exhibition of Development in Macau Since Its Return” in the Venetian Macau between today and August 8.
The show, organized by the Chinese Center for International Cultural Exchange and the China Foundation for the Development of Social Culture, brings together a selection of paintings created using different materials. These works seek to illustrate the scenery, contemporary architecture, religion, culture, and well-known personalities of Macau.
Three of the participating artists – Pan Jinling from Macau and Zhang Wang and Mee Wong from the mainland – shared with the media some of the ideas behind their creations.
Ms Pan Jinling said that the main theme of her work in this exhibition is the lotus, because of the plant’s connection with the city. “[The] lotus has become a symbol of our city, featuring on our flag, and it is also the city’s flower. Therefore, many of my pieces have lotuses in them and I also like to draw [the flower].”
Pan Jinling said that the background of her painting is also full of lotuses. The painting also depicts three female faces, which represent three different generations of women in Macau.
Moreover, Ms Pan said that she wants to express a mixture of Eastern and Western cultures in her work through the use of techniques and materials from both cultures.
“I have used the traditional Chinese painting material – xuan paper – and the Chinese painting technique of Gongbi to outline [the characters]. But when it comes to the use of colors, it is more of a western style color tone, which made it modern and a mixture of both cultures.”
Mee Wong, on the other hand, has included some features of day-to-day life in Macau into her works. One of her paintings features the logos of a number of local enterprises and casino resorts.
“I like to express things that are related to daily life. Therefore, in one of my paintings, there is a girl who dresses like a ballet dancer or someone going to a party. This is because the feeling that Macau gives me is that it is a joyous place,” Ms Wong said.
Compared to Pan and Wong’s paintings, Zhang Wang’s art has an extra layer of technology. The mainland painter is famous for his digitalized Chinese painting creations.
He said that being different is one of the major priorities in his artwork. Therefore, when creating a painting of Macau, the artist drew the goddess A-Ma as a female in her late teens rather than portraying her in a solemn manner.
Furthermore, Zhang Wang has adopted characteristics of both Eastern and Western cultures when drawing the goddess. He pointed out that while the face and the clothing of his depiction of A-Ma are oriental, her posture and physique resemble the Greek goddess Venus.
The exhibition will take place in the Naples Meeting Room at the Venetian between 10 a.m.
and 6 p.m. during the exhibition period. Admission is free.