Any kind of local art language is the regeneration of western modern art discourse and local discourse - not simply the addition result, but the fusion after integration. The achievements of the development of Chinese modern and contemporary art are first reflected in the rise of modern art education. If there is no academy established in the “art revolution” to promote and spread western painting in China, it is difficult to imagine what contemporary art looks like in China. Those 8 artists are exactly at this special position, which not only continues the spread of modern aesthetic education in academies, but also breaks through the process of exploring contemporary art in the local context.

In the early 1990s, Gu Liming observed a new direction for abstract language in the pictures and new year pictures decorating Mawangdui wardrobes from the Han Dynasty. This prompted him to create the two series, Han Mawangdui and Yang Jiabu Door Deities. Constructing a new contemporary cultural consciousness from this, Gu launched a logical starting point from which to rediscover artistic language and value. He attempted to reconstruct a personal, historically relevant, local, and modern artistic language that did not invoke the discourse or ideology of Western contemporary art.