The Shape or Shadow exhibition by artist Zhang Gongque at the Guardian Art Center Photo: Courtesy of the Guardian Art Center

Two new exhibitions, Collect Them All from street artist Michael Lau and Shape or Shadow from veteran artist Zhang Gongque, were unveiled at the Guardian Art Center in Beijing over the weekend. 

The Shape or Shadow exhibition explores the different stages of the art career of the late artist Zhang Gongque from the 1950s to his death in 2020 through 24 oil paintings. 

Throughout his painting career, Zhang chose to create art with an open mind and truly express feelings, opinions as well as present a masculine and innocent art world, a realm of freedom where the artist could soar unrestrained as he played with shape and shadow. 

The artist often said that art creation is a personal matter unrelated to anyone else and so modern artists should not be bound by the environment, tradition or themselves. 

Lau's first solo exhibition in Beijing, the Collect Them All exhibition features 12 paintings and three sculptures from the Hong Kong-based artist, showcasing his passion for street art.  

The exhibition includes four series Method, First Encounter, Soliloquy and Crazy Children as well as the large piece Yes, We Made It!, which pays tribute to Picasso's painting Guernica. 

The large mural created by Lau in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic is a monument to the disastrous moments the human race faced in 2020 that hints that if we work together, we can win any battle.