Liu Weijia · Zhengyatang 2025 Spring Exhibition (Preview)

“Liu Weijia: Zhengyatang 2025 Spring Exhibition”
Painter Liu Weijia
Opening time April 18, 2025, 3:00 PM
Exhibition Duration April 18, 2025 – October 18, 2025
Exhibition Venue
9th Floor, Hehai Science and Technology Building, No. 70 Qingjiang South Road, Gulou District, Nanjing City
Organizing entity
Jiangsu Provincial Association for Sino-Foreign Social and Cultural Exchanges, Jiangsu Provincial Enterprise Federation, Jiangsu Provincial Entrepreneurs Association, Taihe Law Firm
Organizing Unit
Nanjing Zhengyatang Art Museum
Co-organizing unit
Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics General Store

Jiangsu Provincial Modern Logistics Association

Xinhua All-Media Art Museum

Zhu Zi Art Museum

Nanjing Ten Dynasties Art Museum

Suzhou Xu Beihong Art Museum

24-Hour Art Museum

Nanjing Pharmaceutical Art Museum

Space Digital Art Space

Media Support: Guangming Net, China.org.cn, Phoenix News, Xuexi Qiangguo Platform, Tencent News, Yachang Art Network, China Arts Network, Bohua Art Network, China Artists Network, China Culture and Art Network, China Art Investment Network, Jiangnan Times, Deep Suzhou, Suzhou Art Chronicle, Yinli Bo, Jiaohuidian, China Fine Arts Daily, China Calligraphy and Painting Daily, Qingqing World Magazine, Xiujiangnan Magazine, Muchen Imaging, Hantian Jincheng Culture and Art, Juxiantang

Artist Biography

Liu Weijia, a native of Pingdu, Shandong, graduated from the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts and Nanjing University of the Arts. A professional painter, he specializes in flower-and-bird painting, with particular skill in depicting horses, deer, and other animals, as well as plants and blossoms. He has held numerous solo and group exhibitions, and his works are widely collected by institutions, art museums, and private collectors in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin, Shandong, Hong Kong, and other locales.

Ink Falls on Jinling

By Kong Xiangdong

At the start of the new academic year, during the Central Academy of Fine Arts’ graduation season, an exhibition of works from the Chinese Painting Department sparked a lively debate when senior artist Jin Shangyi lamented the lack of freehand brushwork— a remark that quickly became a hot topic and continues to resonate.

Many Chinese academic terms originate from conventional usage, the evolution of ancient expressions, or the adoption of foreign loanwords; once they have become commonplace, few people bother to examine their precise connotations and extensions. For example, in the field of painting, there are the freehand style (xieyi) and its counterpart, the meticulous style (gongbi).

The origins of meticulous brushwork (gongbi) can be traced to Huang Quan, a court painter of the Later Shu dynasty during the Five Dynasties period. His painstaking depictions of exotic flowers and rare birds in the imperial gardens set a standard that later generations emulated, giving rise to a distinct school known as the “Huang family’s opulent elegance.” Contemporaneous with Huang Quan, the Southern Tang painter Xu Xi, who never entered official service and was renowned for his free-spirited nature, came to be called the “Xu Xi of the wild and reclusive.” Unlike Huang Quan’s painstakingly detailed style, Xu Xi’s approach captured forms with a single stroke, a technique also referred to as the “falling-ink method.” Judging from his surviving works, Xu Xi’s paintings are equally exquisite, yet they lack the broad, expressive gestures characteristic of later so‑called xieyi painting. The key difference lies in his one‑stroke execution: the resulting visual effect is light and spontaneous, with strokes that seem to emerge with a divine touch—qualities that cannot be replicated.

Xu and Huang are revered as the founders of two distinct painting styles. When it comes to xieyi—freehand brushwork—I believe that, regardless of skill level or whether one is Eastern or Western, all painting is, in essence, xieyi. This is precisely where the disciplinary concept falters: entrenched conventions are hard to overturn, leaving us no choice but to conform to prevailing norms and crowd‑pleasing trends. Moreover, how could students at art academies truly master so‑called “xieyi painting”? Wildness and unrestrained spontaneity are matters of innate temperament, not something that can be taught or learned; a single stroke can bring a work to life. Beyond a certain degree of natural talent, such painting also demands a finely honed sense of mastery. Neglect these essential elements, and xieyi painting risks degenerating into mere capriciousness. As for royal art academies, there is no need to champion any particular doctrine; what they require is a climate of unfettered creative freedom. If this foundational condition cannot be met, then it is better to address the issue pragmatically: simply assess whether students have conscientiously completed their studies.

Among today’s celebrated painters, there are few who truly excel at the free‑hand, expressive style. Throughout history, figures like Shitao and Bada Shanren were exceptional talents; as for the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, they often reduced their brushwork to just three or five strokes, yet their followers, misled by this approach, unwittingly strayed onto the wrong path. The merits of different painting styles cannot be judged so simply as a matter of weight or measure; rather, we might encourage the coexistence of diverse approaches, offering viewers a rich array of choices.

Liu Weijia, a painter from Shandong, graduated from the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts and has made his name in the free‑hand style of flower-and-bird painting. The academy is a prestigious institution with a rich tradition in this genre; both Sun Qifeng and Huo Chunyang—two generations of masters—enjoyed great renown in the field, and Liu Weijia studied under Huo Chunyang. Ancient Jinling has long been a major center for painting. Though Xu Xi, the founding master of the “luomo” (ink‑wash) technique, may not have been originally from Jinling, his artistic activities were undoubtedly centered there—in the capital of the Southern Tang dynasty. As painting entered the contemporary era, Nanjing emerged as a key hub for meticulous‑style (gongbi) painting nationwide. Seeking to broaden his artistic horizons, Liu Weijia came to the Nanjing University of the Arts to study gongbi painting; as a result, both his work and his professional journey have taken root in Jinling, making him an active, professional artist in Nanjing’s art market.

“Laying Ink over Jinling” is a recent body of freehand‑style paintings that Liu Weijia excels at. Its salient features are as follows: first, the work brims with rich brushwork and ink, delivering a powerful visual impact and heightening its artistic tension; second, its subject matter is broad, drawing on the diverse pleasures of everyday life to offer a wealth of visual appeal; and third, in contrast to the delicate, fresh aesthetic of Jiangnan painting, this exhibition seeks to present Nanjing’s young artists—and the art market—with a distinctive, alternative experience.

May the artist Liu Weijia gain new insights and inspiration from this exhibition, and may viewers be enriched by fresh artistic experiences.

Selected Works from the “Liu Weijia Exhibition”

Educational Background

2006–2010 Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts

2012–2014 Nanjing University of the Arts

Exhibition Experience

2011. Exhibition of Works by Contemporary Art University Students in China. Beijing. Excellence Award

2012 Guangzhou University Student Art Expo . Guangzhou . Huayi University Art Expo . Art Network . Guangzhou Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center

2013.117 Group Exhibition of Artists . Suzhou . Art Network

2012. Group Exhibition of Young Artists . Shanghai . Art Network

2013 Guangzhou University Art Expo . Guangzhou . Huayi University Art Expo . Art Network . Guangzhou Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center

2014. Shanghai Young Artists’ Exhibition . Shanghai

2014. Beijing University Student Art Expo . Beijing . Art Network

2014 Guangzhou University Art Expo . Guangzhou . Art Network . Huayi University Art Expo . At the Guangzhou Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center

2015. University Student Art Expo . Guangzhou . Art Network . Huayi University Art Expo . Guangzhou Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center

2015. University Student Art Expo . Beijing . Art Network . 798 Art District

2016. University Student Art Expo . Guangzhou . Huayi University Art Expo . Guangzhou Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center

2016. University Students’ Art Annual Exhibition . Qingdao . Art Network

2016. Joint Exhibition of Young Artists . Hangzhou . 188 Art Warehouse

2016. Shanghai Sino-American Artists Joint Exhibition . Shanghai . 188 Art Warehouse

2016. Solo Exhibition . Nanjing . Guoyi Tang Art Museum

2017. Joint Exhibition of Classics and Heritage . Nanjing . Six Dust Art Gallery

2017. University Student Art Expo . Guangzhou . Huayi University Art Expo

2017 University Student Art Annual Exhibition . Qingdao . Art Network

2017. Yuese Qinghuang: Chicago Art Exhibition . Chicago, USA

2017. University Student Art Expo . Shenzhen . Huayi University Art Expo

2017. University Student Art Expo . Guangzhou . Huayi University Art Expo

2018. Solo Exhibition . Nanjing Jiuhua Art Museum . Nanjing

2018. Solo Exhibition . Shanghai 188 Art Warehouse . Shanghai

2018 University Student Art Expo . Guangzhou . Huayi University Art Expo

2018 University Student Art Exhibition . Qingdao, Jimo . Art Network

2019 University Art Expo . Shanghai . Huayi University Art Expo . Shanghai Exhibition Center

2019 University Art Expo . Shenzhen . Huayi University Art Expo

2019 University Art Expo . Shanghai . Huayi University Art Expo . Shanghai Exhibition Center

2019 University Art Expo . Shenzhen . Huayi University Art Expo

2021. Nanjing Sanyu Gallery . Liu Weijia Solo Exhibition

2023. Pingdu, Qingdao, Shandong . Liu Weijia Art Exhibition
2024. Nanjing Zhuzi Art Museum . Solo exhibition