You or I, oil painting by Zhang Wenrong. Provided to China Daily

Li Yiwen graduated from the mural painting department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and his style has been heavily influenced by photography.

His works on display at the exhibition include paintings and photos, informing viewers how one affected the other.

From 2011 to 2012, Li took lots of pictures every day and painted them, in both small and large formats.

"Art students receive many academic influences, which both benefits and hurts their art development," says Li, 31. "I want to keep myself away from academic art and express sophisticated emotions through each artwork."

This can be observed in his use of colors. He never uses white but instead adopts silver and the result is more vivid and rich, he says.

Unlike Li, who was trained at an art academy, Wang Rongzhi, 29, is a self-taught artist. He got a brief art training in Guizhou province and upon graduation in 2006 he chose "cats" as his theme. "I felt lonely and lost and I thought the cat has a similar character," Wang says.

During recent years Wang has focused on forests to express his views about the arts market. "I like using symbols to express my emotions. For me, style is a kind of habit," he says.

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