Renowned UK, Chinese painters meet to discuss art

British contemporary artist Tim Benson met his Chinese counterpart Liu Shuang at Liu’s studio recently to exchange views on artistic concepts and the common challenges faced by contemporary artists.

The meeting was part of a week-long visiting tour by Benson, president of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, to China at the beginning of the new year.

Benson, who was educated at the Glasgow School of Art and Byam Shaw School of Art from 1998-2001, told Liu, “I believe that the common problem faced by contemporary artists is the transformation of their thinking and media.

“Traditional art forms inevitably face challenges when expressing contemporary social issues. For me, as a character painter, it is not just about sketching and creating in a studio, but about actively intervening in society, seeking more expressive and caring themes, integrating them, and presenting them in multiple language forms.

“In my work, the direction and goal I want to pursue is to combine the traditional painting context with the contemporary nature of art.”

Liu responded, “Firstly, in the fast-paced life of contemporary people, the expressive techniques and language of traditional European realistic painting seem to be a misplacement in the same time and space of contemporary life.

“In the contrast between these two, we need to handle the relationship between them well. This is not only seeking a language of painting, but also a psychological adjustment. In our Chinese cultural context, it is more like a way of cultivation.”

Ti Gong

Liu received the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture in 2020. The portrait by Liu, “Woman in Städtische Galerie,” stood out from a record 2,500-plus works submitted to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2020.

Liu organized and founded the Shanghai Youth Realistic Painting Salon in 2016. The salon has been committed to the teaching, research, and creation of realistic painting in Shanghai, and has made contributions to the systematic development of realistic painting in the city.

In Liu’s opinion, the pioneers of young realistic artists who are active both domestically and internationally, in such as the United States, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom; and especially the younger generation of painting artists, including his own artistic creations; want to express their ideas in the same direction as Benson’s current thinking.

However, in the context of contemporary painting, there are still many problems that need to be solved, Liu said.

Benson expressed that he had little exposure to contemporary Chinese oil painting and his understanding was still in its early stages. He was very surprised to see so many excellent works presented in Chinese oil painting.

When asked about the differences between contemporary Chinese oil painters and British oil painters, Benson said, “It is not difficult to see in the works of Chinese oil painters that their mastery of Western oil painting techniques has reached an extremely skilled level, even surpassing Western painters in some places.

“From the works of Chinese oil painters, it is very clear to see the traces of studying the techniques and methods of Western classical masters. And British oil painters are no longer continuing this method of creation, but rather adopting more diverse forms of expression.”

Benson emphasized that the common problem faced by contemporary artists is the transformation of thinking and media, and traditional art forms are bound to encounter challenges when expressing contemporary social issues.