Shenzhen's "Performance Painting" Painters Going Global

Huang Fengrong, a pioneer painting artist from southeast Fujian Province, stepped onto his painting path at an early age, and began trying out innovative ways of painting around 10 years ago.

And continues drawing with great passion for a devoted fan who came from Beijing to the 11th Shenzhen Arts and Crafts Fair last week, after just finishing a gold-powder painting depicting Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The fair provided him a 90-minute-on-stage opportunity to show his unique painting methods to the audience.

He invented a new art style called performing painting (“演画”), which combines painting and performance and lets the drawing process becomes both artsy and humorous. To be specific, Huang uses exaggerated body language when painting, sometimes dances with music.

“I loved painting as well as imitating actors in movies when I was young, but I have never thought until now that I could have these two elements join together. In 2010, it was the first time that I showed this new form of art on TV. At the Dafen Oil Painting Village where I have a studio, I performed drawing in a gala, and I sent the performing video to the program ‘I Want to Perform in China’s New Year Gala’ hosted by CCTV. It became famous after I drew a painting for celebrated compere Dong Qing.”