Young artist Shu Yong tells stories of China in new exhibition

Butterfly by Chinese artist Shu Yong Photo: Courtesy of Lisa Ma

The collection by Chinese artist Shu Yong Photo: Courtesy of Lisa Ma

One year on and artist Shu Yong is continuing to record Chinese people's efforts to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in his own way - by painting a new work of art each day. 

Monday marked the first anniversary of his project, which has given birth to 365 paintings about life amid the epidemic. 

According to the Hunan-native, the project began with a challenge to record life amid the COVID-19, but then slowly became a "diary-like" collection of paintings to "inspire Chinese people and the world and lift all of our spirits during the darkest days." 

"With more and more paintings, I gradually felt the strength and tough spirit of human beings during the fight against the deadly virus," said Shu, whose works carry strong characteristics of Chinese paintings and China's own stories about heroic medical staff and ordinary people. 

The series has evolved over the past year, first starting with landscapes and then featuring global landmarks and subjects such as the "People's War" and kung fu to represent the spirit of the Chinese people.  

These 365 paintings have been able to reach more people through an ongoing touring exhibition whose first leg began in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province on June 18 and then moved over to Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province and now Beijing.