Photo by Jiang Dong / China Daily

"Huang has assembled a vocabulary of his art to express what he wants to say. This is an important dimension of a great artist," says Britta Erickson, artistic director of the Beijing-based Ink Studio, which displays Huang's works and has co-organized the exhibition.

"He ponders issues that are relevant to everyone. His sizable ink paintings address the relationship between man and nature: people, plants and animals all originate from the same chaos; the environmental issues are basically human problems," she says.

A close observer of Huang's creative process, Chen says the artist is more like a literati of old times, who invests a lot of time thinking and constructing the basic methods of his art.

"His thoughts of Chinese philosophy, based on his life experiences in Taiwan and the mainland, distinguish Huang from other Chinese artists of his time."

If you go

9 am-5 pm, daily except Monday until April 18. National Museum of China, east side of Tian'anmen Square, 16 East Chang'an Avenue, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6511-6400.