Chinese prints, which enjoyed a heyday in the 1980s, have faded in popularity because easy reproduction makes them poor investments. But many are beautiful, creative and within everyone's reach, writes Wang Jie.

On the first day of this exhibition, all the artworks were sold out. The print art show featuring 104 pieces by 34 Chinese artists is running at M50. Print exhibitions are rare in China nowadays; this is one of the biggest.

Yet for many, print is certainly not a privileged or an elite art genre, due to its easy reproduction.

A retrospective show of Chinese prints from 1994 to 2006, the exhibit aims to envision Chinese prints of the future through an academic angle.

"Prints in China enjoyed prosperity in the 1980s," says Lu Zhiping, a local veteran print artist. "But with the booming of other art forms like oil, sculpture and installation, prints have gradually faded out."

Simply because prints can be easily reproduced or copied, they are not an attractive investment.

"True, we have to admit it," says Lu. "The market for prints caters to the decoration for ordinary families."

Due to their affordability, prints are easily accepted, proved by the fact that all the exhibited prints were sold.

"In the past decade, many new techniques and subjects have been applied," says Lu.

The highlight of the show is a series wood-carvings by Luo Guirong, who made intricate carvings in the shape of differently sized mosaics to form a pilgrimage scene of Chinese Muslims.

The creative use of the mosaic pattern not only gives a textured effect but also lends a mystery to the religion itself. Gu was awarded the bronze medal for the 2002 National Print Competition.

"But don't just expect that prints are fairly cheap," says Lu. "For example, one of Luo's prints could fetch around 30,000 yuan (US$3,800) in the market, although this might be an exception."

Zhang Mingjie, bronze medal winner for the 2004 National Print Competition, does another impressive piece. His tableau is crowded with human figures. They look almost alike; a few have facial features but many do not.

They are surrounded by a huge bowl and some of them play acrobatics above the bowl. The jam-packed scenario suggests a population explosion.

Lu recommends a print by Zhou Zhongming, born in 1979, the youngest of all exhibitors. According to Lu, Zhou uses a technique combining glue, film and other multimedia to create his prints, which hardly can be reproduced because of the characteristics of the materials.

His prints are street scenes of people, buildings and traffic.

"There are not many print exhibitions in the city," says Lu. "We hope that more people will come here. After all, print is an art genre for a wide range of people."

Date: through November 30, 10am-6pm
Address: 1/F, Bldg 4, 50 Moganshan Rd
Tel: 021-6266-3639

(China Daily November 27, 2006)