Lou Shenghua (born 1966, Zhejiang, China) was a doctor before he entered Zhejiang Academy of Fine Art (now China Academy of Art) in 1988 and got his master degree in 2001. From 1996, he has been teaching in the Special Arts and Crafts Department of the CAA and now lives and works in Hangzhou.

Running-hand calligraphy style is Lou’s representative style. By using this style, the work presents an abundant feast on a vast land. So simple yet elegant.

Inspiration

Lou selected five fruits of apple, peach, grape, pomegranate and pear for this design and each image of the fruit is embodied with a poem that praises this fruit for its beauty in its appearance and its sweetness in taste. These poems were written by the most famous poets of Tang and Song Dynasty.

After the artist learnt that what happened in the past is no longer in its original place or no longer exists in this world, he realised he can still dream of these life situations. The artist can fill in these spaces that no longer exist with classical poems, even the places that they used to shadow. He uses running-hand style of Chinese calligraphy to connect and describe these things. He found that this method has changed the composition and even structure of the calligraphy, and the images have become the second coat of these characters. The fruits were originally gifted as flesh and blood, and now the poems and writings have acquired another form. This work presents the following meaning: if fruits are gifts from the earth to human beings, then the characters and writings of these gifts are the flowers of our civilization.