‘Masters in Painting’ exhibition opens

An exhibition featuring 54 mainland and local contemporary painters opened yesterday and will run until Aug. 28. The ‘Masters in Painting – Works of Contemporary Artists Exhibition’ brings together 108 pieces from 54 contemporary painters from the mainland and Macau. The works depict natural scenery, personalities, flowers and birds, all of which showcase a very high level of painting skills, demonstrated across a variety of different styles.
The exhibition will be held at The Venetian Macao’s Naples Ballroom, and, according to the organizers, it provides locals and tourists with an opportunity to appreciate high-quality art pieces. This year’s Masters in Painting marks the third art exhibition in this series at The Venetian Macao.
The free-admission art show is organized by the Institute of Calligraphy and Paintings of CRICH, co-organized by The Venetian Macao and Beijing Hong Bao Bo Yi Cultural Development Company Limited.
According to Hong Bao Bo Yi’s managing director Ms Chang Hong, the event has showcased nearly 300 pieces from more than 160 artists over the past two years.
Mr Ma Zhensheng, president of CRICH’s Institute of Calligraphy and Paintings, said that: “Calligraphy and painting are the most exceptional parts of the Chinese traditional culture but they have faced new problems as the years have gone by.” He attributed this to the introduction of western ideas and cultures, which conflict with traditional Chinese calligraphy and paintings.
He pointed out that although society is more and more open and tolerant of new concepts; some traditional cultures are in fact being crowded out. “The proportion of Chinese paintings is decreasing in art schools in the mainland,” he noted.
Mr Bowen Leung, Sands China’s special advisor to the board of directors, stated that the gaming operator is willing to provide more “non-gaming” components to the region. “Macau is a very small place. But it has had a significant role throughout the past several hundred years: that is, being a center where the east meets the west. Rooted in Macau, Sands China deems that it is obliged to serve the territory.”
Participating artists include Ma Zhensheng; Pan Gongkai, vice-chairman of the China Artists Association and president of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts; Li Xiaoke; and Wu Changjiang. Six Macau artists’ works are on display at the exhibition.
Prior to the opening ceremony, selected painters from the mainland and from Macau participated in an artists’ workshop to share their painting skills and techniques as well as to work on their painting together.   GY