THE year was 1966—the start of China’s Cultural Revolution—and a 10-year-old art prodigy named Liu Guo was granted a permit to paint four giant portraits of Chairman Mao for public display.

　　The artist, now 48, says: “It was a great honor. I never met Chairman Mao. Bu I drew from photographs, using a grid technique to enlarge the image onto a large canvas.”

　　The mental image of Liu as a boy, standing on a ladder to paint 20m-high portraits of Chairman Mao, is a striking and adorable one.

　　The son of farmers in the north-eastern Chinese province of Jilin, he started delving in art at the tender age of six.

　　The precocious boy would carve animals like roosters and cats out of candles.

　　Liu, who is a Singapore permanent resident, now divides his time between his family here and jaunts to china.

　　He has long since moved on from rendering giant propagandist portraits to giant Chinese ink landscapes.

　　A graduate of Jilin’s Northeast Normal University’s department of fine arts, he is currently the principal and senior artist of Changbaishan Art Academy in Jilin.

　　On Saturday, he launches his fourth Singapore exhibition at the Ngee Ann Cultural Centre’s exhibition hall. More than 80 of his Chinese ink paintings will be on display, priced from $600 to $30,000.

　　Interspersed among picturesque scenes of his native China are his depictions of moist, tropical Singapore, especially banyan trees.

　　>The exhibition opens at Ngee Ann Cultural Centre’s exhibition hall (97 Tank Road) at noon on Sat. It is on till Feb. 2, from 11am to 7:30pm daily. Free admission.

　　Mr. Liu Guo, alias Peng Sheng, was born on 1st of March 1956 in the Fuyu Country of Jilin Province. He started painting at the age of six, and as early as 10 he was granted permission to paint several portraits of Chairman Mao. Because of his exceptional talent, he was often selected to participate in art exhibitions held in conjunction with the festive celebrations organized by Agricultural University, Industrial University and Class Education.

　　To further his knowledge on art, he studied in Department of Fine Arts in the Northeast Normal University in 1980,and then he continued at Art Academy of China. Liu Guo also studied art from various teachers such as Lu Li Shao, Liu Hai Shu, and Wu Zou Ren.

　　After graduation, he decided to become a professional painter. He led a simple life, devoting most of his time for the study of art, both the east and the west, past and present. He had always seek to improve himself and his techniques because he believes that painting and other art works should nourish one’s mind and at the same time reflect the spirit of times.

　　With his experiences, he taught his students and next generation of promising artists. His students are mostly teachers of arts themselves who can be found not only in China but also as far as Japan, South Korea, United States and South East Asia. In his art life, he takes time to write articles, critics and books about art. His books include “New Techniques in Chinese Landscape Painting”, “A Collection of Liu Guo’s Paintings” and “Liu Guo’s landscape Painting”.

　　Currently he is a council member of the Fine Arts Research Center of China, and member of the China Industrial Design Association, and Artists’ Association of China. He is also a Principal and Senior Artist of Changbaishan Art Academy, Art Researcher and Associate Professor of the Educational Institute of Jilin Province, visiting professor of College of Fine Arts in Beijing, Art Director of the New Era Arts Center of Singapore and art consultant of several event, such as “Celebrities World” of Guangzhou, China.

　　For his contribution and achievement in the art world, his name has been placed into the hallmark of Chinese artists and his biography included in publications of “The Modern Notable Man in The Art Circles in China” and “Encyclopedia of contemporary Chinese Artists and Calligraphers”.

　　New technique and The Longest Painting in the world

　　In getting objects for his paintings, Mr. Liu often ventures deep into famous mountains of China, especially Changbaishan, where he has perfected his techniques in landscape painting by developing twelve original techniques with ink. In 1990,his book “New Technique in Chinese Landscape Painting” was published. The book was mentioned in the widely circulated “Chinese Education Daily ” for its readers.

　　Known as the “twelve technique of Liu Guo’s landscape painting”, his techniques were introduced to universities, high schools, elementary schools and other art institutions throughout China. With his techniques, he produced large volumes of artworks that reflect the spirit of the times. His unique painting style has won him praises from all over the world. In July 1991,he completed a 60 meters painting on Changbaishan with the title “The Majesty of Changbaishan”, which then was the longest scroll painting in the world.

　　His unique painting technique was highly commended by the “Chinese Exposition”, who placed him in the ranks of elite artists of China. The Xinhua News Agency, the Central TV of China and the media of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who followed his works.

　　Mr. Liu Guo has held many art exhibitions domestically and abroad since 1984,such as Hong Kong (1988) and Taiwan(1983) with 40 senior artists and masters. His other solo exhibition drew rave reviews in Singapore (1992,1994,1998), Johor (Malaysia, April 1996), San Francisco (United States of America,1995). New York(United States of America,1996) and China. His solo exhibition in Guangzhou drew as much as 84,000 visitors, which was a record-breaking success.

　　In total, Mr. Liu has produced more than 2,000 paintings. Many of his works have been collected by the art institutions museums, renowned universities and private collectors from different parts of the word.

　　The exhibition at Crowne Plaza Jakarta, who is presented by Vanessa Art house from 20-29 May 2002,is Mr. Liu’s first exhibition in Indonesia. It features his selected paintings that capture the scenery of beautiful landscape, mountain, waterfall, flower and bird in China. His art works show the spirit of China’s traditional painting that is colorful and full of mystery.

　　On display are also his artworks that he painted several days before his Indonesia Exhibition. He had always been interested in the beautiful landscape of Indonesia. For him, Indonesia has been a source of never ending inspiration.

　　The Straits mes Saturday,July26,2008