NOT as simple as it may look to the untrained eye, "only when the identity of ink painting is rediscovered will we be able to fully appreciate the art in its own right, transcending the concept of a simple medium," South Korean art critic Oh Kwang-su said at the opening of a Chinese and South Korean ink painting exhibit in Shenzhen on Tuesday.

The show, through June 30 at the Guan Shanyue Art Museum, features more than 100 works by 40 young and long-established artists from South Korea and China. The exhibition is jointly organized by the Shenzhen Fine Art Institute and Seoul Museum of Art.

Oh accompanied the delegation of nine participating South Korean artists attending the show's opening.

The works by the 20 South Korean painters express conceptions of time, philosophical meditations and nature on a wide, expansive scale.

The Chinese artists' works are portraits, abstract concepts, lotus flowers, teardrops and landscapes. The five Shenzhen artists are Dong Xiaoming, Zhou Kai, Liang Quan, Zheng Qiang and Liu Zijiang.

Ink painting has existed in Asia for more than 1,000 years. Both South Korean and Chinese ink paintings are going through a reinterpretation and transformation of traditional style and aesthetics to fit a contemporary context.

"The greatest challenge facing ink painters is how to preserve the tradition, and the problem may not be solved easily if ink painting is regarded as a simple medium for expression," Oh said.

"If the value of ink painting is not approached from the context of Oriental culture, ink painting may become meaningless," the critic said.

Chang Sang-eui, a leading ink painter from South Korea, saw sharp distinctions between South Korean and Chinese artists.

"The Chinese are more advanced in the method of using ink, but in terms of modernity, South Korea is ahead of China," she said.

"We should take note of the Chinese artists' innovative styles, as they are making rapid progress," she added.

Chang noted that Chinese painter Wang Tiande's "Chinese Fashion," a white Chinese robe with Chinese characters engraved with a laser beam, showed the experimental side of Chinese artists.

Another Chinese artist to notice, she said, is Huang Yihan, who makes the members of South Korean boy band H.O.T. the subject of his postmodernist paintings.

"A successful reinterpretation of ink painting should constitute new expressive methods, new values and should provide a historical perspective," said Chang.

The exhibit's South Korean artists can be divided into four groups.

The first includes artists who were active in the 1960s. The second group led the South Korean ink painting movement in the 1980s. The third group is artists working independently, including three young artists. "I fully believe that this exhibition will show the full beauty and depth of ink painting in contemporary South Korean art as it includes artists from a broad age range, from those who are only in their 30s to others in their 70s," Oh said.

Venue: Guan Shanyue Art Museum

Add: 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District

Dates: Through June 30

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Buses: 10, 25, 105, 111, 215

Metro: Shao Nian Gong Station (Children's Palace Station)

Editor: Wing