A decade has passed since he left Chen Yifei's studio following the sudden death of the modern master, but Zhao Junzhong may still be struggling to find his own artistic path.

Zhao worked with Chen for almost nine years, painting with him until the artist died of gastrorrhagia in 2005, at the age of 59.

But Zhao, now 42, is confident enough to stage his solo exhibition, The State, at Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculptures Institute Art Museum. It showcases about 60 pieces of work he had created in the past three years.

"As you can see, these paintings are different in subjects and expression," Zhao says.

"I am still developing and exploring in different directions."

Zhao learned almost all of his techniques in oil painting from Chen.

As one of modern China's significant artists, Chen built his reputation first in the 1960s, with a series of large paintings of revolutionary themes and historical subjects.

He was also one of the first living Chinese artists to achieve success in the international market from the 1980s.

His paintings feature disciplined realistic techniques, poetic atmosphere and references to traditional Chinese aesthetics.

As one of Chen's assistants, Zhao was involved in many of Chen's creations.

Zhao came from a rural area in East China's Shandong province. After graduation from Shandong University of Art & Design, he was assigned a job teaching politics in a countryside school.

In 1995, he quit the job and came to Shanghai. He did all kinds of painting jobs: posters, outdoor advertisements and so on.

A friend introduced Zhao to Chen and he became one of the master's assistants.

Zhao was so attached to his master and had learned almost everything from him that when Chen died suddenly in 2005, he was lost and confused. He didn't even know if he could go on painting.

A few years later, in order to have a new start and to get out of Chen's shadow, Zhao applied for a master's program at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

He graduated in 2013. During his time in Beijing, he painted industriously and explored a wide range of possibilities.

Shao Dazhen, a well regarded art critic and a veteran artist himself, says Zhao has benefited greatly from Chen, for his artistic ideas and insight into life, mastery in composition, as well as his understanding of the classical and modern, Chinese and Western art.

"Yet Zhao has moved on to form his distinctive artistic expressions. He is sensitive to the new reality and explores the inside world of today's youth," Shao says.

Zhao has developed a unique point of view that is like "the popular selfies the young take".

"It's as if you can feel a fleeting moment of dismay in that evolving state," says the critic.

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn

Zhao Junzhong is staging his solo show, The State, in Shanghai to display 60 oil paintings he has created in the past three years. Photos Provided To China Daily

(China Daily USA 04/27/2015 page7)