Various styles of Chinese calligraphy art showcased in the city
Native Shanghai artist Shi Yonghua is staging an exhibition featuring Chinese calligraphy art at the Painting and Calligraphy Academy of Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Shi was named a World Outstanding Chinese Artist by the United Nations World Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation in 2017.
Shi’s affinity with calligraphy began when he was only 12 years old. With mentorship from famous artists such as Shu Tong, Li Duo and Xie Zhiliu, Shi explored various styles of calligraphy and gradually formed his own style and techniques.
Shi has worked in calligraphy for more than 60 years and made a name for himself in various exhibitions, including being exhibited at the Louvre in France and receiving a collection certificate signed by the museum director.
The 200-some exhibited calligraphy works use a variety of scripts such as regular script, running script, clerical script, and seal script to interpret the charm of ancient and modern poetry classics, and inspirational sayings.
These works also represent Shi's use of calligraphy as a way to depict and record the tremendous changes and achievements of New China over the past 75 years.
Shi said that calligraphy is not only an indispensable part of his life, but also a lifelong pursuit and spiritual sustenance.
In his eyes, calligraphy is a difficult but rewarding journey. As a calligrapher, it is still difficult to form his own characteristics and styles even after many years of practice.