Chongqing - July 1 witnessed the opening of Liu Xiaodi’s oil painting exhibition at the Red Art Museum in Geleshan Forest Park, Chongqing. More than 40 opera oil paintings by the artist Liu Xiaodi were exhibited.

Liu Xiaodi’s oil painting exhibition opened in the Red Art Museum in Geleshan Forest Park, Chongqing. (Photo/Catherine Chen)

During the exhibition, oil painting artist Liu Xiaodi accepted iChongqing’s exclusive interview. Peking Opera is the national treasure of China. It is highly generalized, reflecting the identities and psychology of different people, as well as the evolution of history and the ups and downs of daily life. Around 2000, Liu Xiaodi sought themes for his creations. By chance, he watched a performance of the Peking Opera Trouble in Heaven (a clip from Journey to the West) in Beijing. He was deeply shocked by this unique and rich form of expression, “This is our national quintessence, our most representative culture, and what my paintings should focus on the most.”

Oil painting artist Liu Xiaodi is presenting his work to an iChongqing reporter. (Photo/Catherine Chen)

From then on, Liu began collecting materials everywhere, met many Peking Opera actors, and got to know Mr. Mei Baojiu, an authoritative figure in the contemporary Chinese Peking Opera world and the son of the famous Peking Opera artist Mr. Mei Lanfang. Liu started a creative career with the theme of traditional opera. Oil painting expresses Western art, and Beijing opera is the quintessence of Chinese stage art. Using oil painting to express Peking opera combines the East and West art forms. This is one of the few in the domestic painting circle.

Oil painting artist Liu Xiaodi is presenting his work to an iChongqing reporter. (Photo/Catherine Chen)

According to Liu, he has nearly 100 works expressing Peking Opera with oil paintings. The “Mei Lanfang” series he restored through photo and video materials have been highly appraised and affirmed by Mr. Mei Baojiu. Liu also created several personal portraits for Mei Baojiu.

One of Liu’s oil paintings from the “Mei Lanfang” series. (Photo/Catherine Chen)

In 2018, during the China-Britain Culture & Art Festival, Liu Xiaodi brought five of his works to the British Museum for exhibition. As the only oil painting among all the exhibits, his painting presents the core of traditional Chinese culture with the expression of Western art and has won unanimous appreciation from overseas audiences. After the exhibition, one of his works about the traditional Chinese story “Legend of the White Snake” was selected for collection by the Prince Charles Foundation. Liu said: “This experience reminds me that art knows no borders. Britain and China are countries with a long history, and the British also love traditional and classical culture, so they are very accepting of my works.”

Liu Xiaodi’s works will be exhibited in the Red Art Museum for a long time, bringing new artistic experiences to Chongqing citizens. The Red Art Museum is located in Geleshan Forest Park, and the Mishan Cultural Tourism Company fully builds it. Mishan Cultural Tourism takes advantage of the opportunity for China to develop the cultural tourism industry vigorously, implements the “culture +” and “tourism +” strategy, and invests in the construction and operation of many innovative and constructive cultural tourism projects with global tourism thinking, thus creating a new pattern of tourism development.