The first solo exhibition by the local artist Fanny Lam is now on display at the gallery of the Rui Cunha Foundation. The exhibition comprises 28 works of Chinese paintings that present figures and calligraphy, flowers, birds and other animals characteristic of Chinese culture.
Fanny leaves Macau in a few months to live in Australia. The "Chinese Painting Exhibition of Lam Cheng" is both a completion of works developed by the artist so far and a way to bid farewell to the city.
The move to Australia does not mean total absence from Macau however.
"If I have time, I will return to Macau once or twice a year. I will continue to paint and bring these works to another exhibition," says Fanny.
Lam says that in Macau there are only a few people who choose Chinese painting as a form of artistic expression, even though locals are interested in this type of painting.
"I prefer to paint figures from the Tang and Song dynasties because they relate to the literary works of those dynasties, which are my source of inspiration when I paint.
“I like to paint poets and beautiful women, like Li Qingzhao, a writer and poet of the Song dynasty. I also painted Xin Qiji, a poet and military leader during the Song dynasty, Lu You, an influential poet in the same dynasty, and Su Tungpo, a writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist and politician.
“From the Tang Dynasty, I painted the third leader, Li Yu. I admire them very much, mainly because their poems move me and therefore I want to represent them,” explains the artist.
Although she prefers to depict human figures in her works, some pieces explore topics such as natural scenery, wild animals or traditional Chinese images. Over the past decade, Fanny has spent much of her spare time in Hong Kong and Guangzhou to continue her learning of Chinese painting under the guidance of masters such as Lai Meng and Hu JunMin.
The artist, born in Macau, graduated from the University of Macau and then attended the South China Normal University in Guangzhou. Since 2004, she has also been teaching Fine Arts in Macau. The exhibition will be on display until the 23rd of August.
