On September 14, 2016, Wherein the Idea Lies – 3rd Biennial Exhibition of Chinese Oil Painting (2016) was inaugurated in the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC). The activity was sponsored by Chinese Oil Painting Society.

The biennial exhibition was the third such event since it was debuted in 2012. It focused on the theme of “Wherein the Idea Lies”. It was separated into the three parts of “Strokes of the Idea”, “Imagery of the Idea” and “Externalities of the Idea”. By putting on display 150 pieces of works from 32 oil painters, it was to explore manifestation of the freehand aesthetics in contemporary painting.

The exhibited works marked explorations of the elder generation artists, as well as experiments of younger artists. The exhibition presented the exploration course of Chinese freehand oil painting in the recent 100 years. The participating artists came from various regions, fully incarnating artistic diversity depending on geographical differences.

The “Wherein the Idea Lies” theme may be expressed in the use of brush of artists to generate the strokes of “ideas”, and in the molding of images, to create the image of “ideas”. It may also be illustrated in the pursuit of artistic realm, to shape the realm of “ideas”. With regard to the reflection and breakthrough of “ideas”, it was, so to speak, a complete externality of “ideas”. The exhibition was arranged in the clues of “Strokes of the Idea”, “Imagery of the Idea” and “Externalities of the Idea”. They were not scaled high or low, different only in priorities. The three boards altogether revealed the depth and width of Chinese contemporary painting in pursuit of freehand aesthetics.

In the exhibition, the “Strokes of the Idea” section underlined expressing the artists’ skills in the use of painting brushes, and the artistic perception created with the strokes. This part comprised works of Yan Zhenduo, Zhao Kaikun, Xu Jiang, Yang Peijiang, Ren Chuanwen, Zhao Xianfeng, Li Jiangfeng, Chen Yan, Luo Qi and Zhang Haihong.

The “Imagery of the Idea” section emphasized presenting the achievements of the artists in depicting typical images of the objects. The works in this part were mainly figure paintings, by Chen Tianlong, Luo Zhongli, Dai Shihe, Situ Li, Yan Ping, Huang Jing, Zhang Xiaoming, Sun Gang, Wu Weijia, Shi Jianjun, Li Ronglin, and Peng Si.

The “Externalities of the Idea” section incarnated artists’ achievements in expressing artistic realms with the western oil painting. They included some abstract works. They came from Shang Yang, Wang Huaiqing, Hu Xiangcheng, Ding Fang, Wang Huanqing, Feng Fang, Duan Jianghua, Xiao Fei, Li Qiang and Wei Jia.

The exhibition lasted till September 25.