Paintings evoke a silent blue symphony of people lost in memory

When one's time is inevitably overloaded with images and clamorous expressions, the oil paintings of Liu Kun, born in 1968, offer rare restraint and a still moment of meditative reflection.

From his earlier depictions of urban landscapes and vegetables to his latest use of blue as the dominant color in his works, what Liu cares about is not the physical forms of his subjects but the mental state of people lost in memory.

Blues / Big Blue, Liu's ongoing exhibition at Beijing's Today Art Museum, which runs through May 25, illuminates blue as an essential element in the artist's recent oil paintings. The moment they step into the museum, audiences are immersed in a calm yet nostalgic world created by shades of blue, from deep to light, that jump from the canvas to orchestrate a silent symphony.