China Retirement Funds

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Admin
China Retirement Funds

China Retirement Funds

An exhibition by Chinese New Zealand painter Cao Jun is now on at the Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum. On display are 80 works, nearly all of which were painted in New Zealand. At the exhibition opening the artist offered his painting Yi Cai Jiu Zhang for auction. Proceeds went to those suffering from China's latest natural disaster, the earthquake in Qinghai Province.

Cao Jun the Artist

A native of Taizhou in Jiangsu Province, Cao Jun was well regarded in China for his art before he moved to New Zealand in 2002. Since then, inspired by the landscapes that were virtually on the doorstep of his Auckland home, he has gained further prominence in both countries. Today his reputation as an artist continues to grow. He is also considered a cultural ambassador in official circles due to his contributions to art exchanges between the two countries.

Jiangsu Provincial Government’s Culture Department was instrumental in bringing the Nanjing exhibition together. The official opening was attended by Liang Baohua, Governor of Jiangsu Province, officials from Nanjing and Cao Jun’s hometown along with 150 guests and a large media contingent.

Building China-New Zealand Relations through Art

Former New Zealand Ambassador to China Tony Brown, in a speech read for him, said at the opening ceremony that for the past ten years Cao Jun had been at the forefront of introducing Chinese art to people in New Zealand. “We can clearly see that these are the works of a Chinese artist, but they are also the works of a New Zealand artist”, Mr Brown said in reference to Cao Jun’s ability to integrate lessons from both cultures into his work. A large Cao Jun work hangs in the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing. Its subject is the lotus plant, which in Chinese has the same sound as ‘peace'.

Cao Jun’s work is varied, but he is particularly known for his big cats – striking works full of intricate detail, realistic in their form, the subjects menacing in their gaze. When Cao Jun paints, he has his own ways of getting deeply into the subject at hand. “Painting is a peaceful activity”, the artist told Suite101, “but I like working best when listening to rock music - sometimes Chinese, sometimes Western.”

Different Apects of Culture

Since Cao Jun has been living in New Zealand, the scope of his work has extended to embrace New Zealand's cultural heritage as well as its picturesque scenery. ‘Breathing the Universe’ depicts a stark landscape, the separation of different aspects of the scene so typically Chinese. In the picture’s midst, acting as a visual bridge, stand a symbolic Maori koruru and maihi, the head and arms of the traditional marae structure.