Juxtaposing traditional with contemporary is at the heart of He Jian’s practice as he makes the viewers reflect on the fast-paced changes of our society. In his new solo show, Faces Series, opening May 19 in Beijing, the artist continues to paint in the fresco-like, flat style that you find on the mural paintings of traditional Chinese temples, but his characters, young Chinese couples, are dressed in contemporary western clothes making them strangely out of place. The washed-out colours of the paintings reinforce the feeling you’re seeing something old, yet the dress choices of the protagonists and their attitude put them firmly in the present.
