Exhibition: Galerie du Monde, 328 Pacific Place. 10am-7pm Mon-Sat; noon-5pm Sun. Tel: 2525 0529. Until November 30
Some of them you've seen before, many are rarely seen takes on Suzhou, known as the Venice of the East not least for the similarity in smelliness. Wang Yihua's oil paintings, a lesson in photo realism, are as romantic as any holiday brochure and then some. He captures the light falling on ancient stone, the emotional impact of all those incredible canal ways, the atmosphere as boats punt up through impossibly arched bridges. His technique is pretty near perfect: every detail, every nuance of a view, the depth of field. But it's not such a rare thing, on the mainland, to paint with wonderful technique. Early in his career, Wang was a proud protagonist of technique and a keen observer, says Fred Scholle of Galerie du Monde.
Wang has used his training to pay homage to Suzhou. Its rivers, lakes and bridges have him hooked.The scenery is richly imbued with a poetry of colour and form that is all its own, he says, a wonderful combination of natural beauty and human ingenuity.
These are simple, quite honestly fairly dreamy paintings, but with their use of colour, structure and illumination, pretty compulsive viewing.