ZHONG CHENG

With a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist

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As an outsider in Shanghai, Xue analyzes Shanghai City of which development grows by leaps and bounds with his sharper and brighter vision. By observing this artwork, the audience can perceive that the artist attempt practicing the city pace and stinging undercurrent of the city he received on his painting. Thus, artist Xue is categorized as a member of the new “Shanghai School” of Chinese painting (new haipai 新海派; literally new “Shanghai style”). Seeing China art world deeply influenced by Western Abstract Expressionism at that time, Xue aspired to reform the modern Chinese painting, to break with tradition, and to give new life to tradition. His faith is not simply about art performance but mobilization of daily experiences and personal discovery of the face of Shanghai city. Literally, “New haipai art” would make people think of the well-known haipai in contrast to “Jingpai(京派; Beijing School or Beijing style)”. Compared with the traditional haipai, New haipai artists with broader insight tend to bravely innovate. They represent the cultural features of Shanghai City gradually internationalized and bear the clear contemporaneity in the contemporary Chinese art world. New haipai artists not only develop the eclectic style of Shanghai City but also seek to acquire innovation from a critical viewpoint.