An art exhibition, entitled "City Slang -- Modern Art of the Pearl River Delta Region," is being held at He Xiangning Art Gallery until April 8.

The show, a collection of representative works by well-known artists in the region, includes various forms as water-and-ink, photography, oil paintings, and multimedia works.

The Pearl River Delta Region has long been viewed as an economic powerhouse. However, modern art in the region has developed quickly in the past ten years, becoming a symbol of south China's emerging cultural life.

The history of modern art in the region can be traced back to the middle 80s' "South China Artist's Salon," whose members tried to set themselves apart from artists in the traditional centre of Chinese culture, the North.

"The Elephant Tail Workshop" in the 90s further developed this trend, with members focusing on more sensitive social problems and movements such as residency, population, consumption, prostitution, immigration, and the Internet.

The show not only demonstrates the special position of modern south China art in the nation, but also implies an inseparable relation between the art and the geographical location.

(Shenzhen Daily October 17, 2005)