Solo exhibition is a meditation in ink

Ink artist Cui Zhenkuan is holding his fifth solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing until June 17. The Brush and Ink Shine Anew displays more than 170 paintings from different periods of his nearly seven-decade career, donating 30 works to the museum.

A native of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, Cui, 90, was nurtured by the expansive landscapes of Northwest China, its unique folklore and the Chang'an School in which artists in or hailing from Shaanxi have depicted its distinctive landscapes, history and lifestyles.

Cui has carried forward the Chang'an School's style with his highly expressive strokes — shading and layering thick ink in a seemingly chaotic, abstract way, ushering audiences into a meditative state in which time and space and the past and present crisscross.