Chinese landscape painting, considered a prestigious form of visual art, has evolved from being just pure expressions of shan shui (mountain and water).
In Hanging Garden, a contemporary landscape art show, artists employ different formats and media to express their ideas.
Participating artists Yu Peng, Xiang Guohua and Tony Ng illustrate their three distinct interpretations of the genre not only through paintings but also sculptures.
Yu uses mainly calligraphy and ink on rice paper in his works, paying homage to the ancient masters and at the same time exploring modern presentation style. His works emphasize a reclusive lifestyle.
In contrast to Yu, Xiang's works feature traditional mountains and rivers using unique media and technique. He paints by burning small holes in rice paper and acrylic glasses.
The creative yet time-consuming approach shows that the process is sometimes more important and enjoyable than the result.
In an era of visual transformation, landscape art is widely innovative and diverse, and quite often contains subtle reflection of the society. Ng, through his photographs, paintings and acrylic sculptures, addresses his concerns about the pollution caused by landfills and construction sites in Hong Kong.
Hanging Garden is more than a landscape art exhibition. It has established a new language through fresh interpretation of long-standing techniques and materials.