The remote plateau, the devout pilgrims, the wild yak and the blue skies; Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is always a magnet for artists around the world.

Fifteen middle-aged and young Chinese artists, who have lived in or visited the Tibet Autonomous Region at various times, are displaying the power of humans and of nature in an ongoing exhibition entitled "Yalaso" at the Today Art Gallery.

The exhibition, which is free for visitors, features 88 works and includes those by famous artists on the Tibetan subject such as Chen Danqing, Sun Jingbo and Ren Huizhong. It runs until October 29 at the private art museum at the Kingdom Garden, Wenhuiyuan Beilu, Beijing.

The roof of the world has captivated contemporary Chinese art since the 1950s, when renowned artists Dong Xiwen, Wu Guanzhong and Pan Shixun made their first visits to the mystery plateau.

The grandiose landscape and the Tibetan cultural heritage have since then influenced both the academic and non-mainstream schools of Chinese art, and some traditional Tibetan patterns have often been used as one of the important elements in today's artistic creations.

After the rigid confines imposed during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), Chen Danqing, a young graduate of Central Academy of Fine Arts, shocked the country at a national art exhibition with his work depicting a kiss between a young Tibetan man and woman.

A "Tibetan heat" then swept through art circles in the early 1980s, and lingers until today.

The exhibition has been a review of the two decades of that "heat," said sources with the gallery. With 88 works on one subject, the exhibition is nothing short of breathtaking, demonstrating the subject's amazing space of creation.

From these works, visitors can also see a change of styles in the past 20 years of Chinese art. Young artists' favor of abstract art makes for an interesting comparison with the trends to cling to realism during the 1980s.

(China Daily October 24, 2003)