As you walk into the Shandong Arts and Crafts Exhibition Center, you are greeted by a magnificent sight: a larger-than-life rabbit. Its face
The
In 2004, Yang noticed a competition was being held
His winning top prize at the competition encouraged him to quit his job
1. Why did Curbelo come to Shanghai?
| A．To perform for a restaurant. |
| B．To join in a student music project. |
| C．To continue her studies in the field of music. |
| A．Singing in her native Spanish. |
| B．Sharing the stage with famous artists. |
| C．Producing music for famous brands. |
| A．Language learning. | B．Music tours. | C．An artist. |
3 . In artist Roy Wang’s photos, mythical (神话的) creatures from The Classic of Mountains and Seas emerge in front of historical sites of Guangzhou.
The series of photographs is created by light painting in which the photographer uses light sources to produce different images which are captured by a camera, as if drawing on the photos. Roy Wang, the representative figure of light-painting photography in China, says, “What attracts me most about light painting is that, by using a simple light and against a dark background, I can paint in a free style.”
Wang was a professional athlete. However, his sports career ended in 2012 because of injuries. His travels led to his interest in photography. Once he saw light-painting photos by Spanish master Pablo Picasso online and was introduced to the technique. He began to try in this field.
In 2013, he started adding the dragon and other creatures from ancient texts to light painting. Wang’s work is inspired by mythical creatures that add a sense of mystery to his photography but at the same time it proves to be difficult to create such images with light.“The mythical creatures are as mysterious as light painting. They both emerge in the darkness, and without an exact shape or form, they are free. I let loose my imagination,based on the descriptions in ancient books,” said Wang.
To Roy Wang, the technique has a wide application in expressing different ideas. Apart from mythical creatures, he has been showing themes relevant to more recent events, such as a series in praise of medical workers during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Tradition will continue to be a creative force for Wang as he wants to add more Chinese elements in his works, including his next series, creating photos that have both aesthetic (美学的) and cultural values.
1. What is special about Roy Wang’s paintings?| A．They are made with light. |
| B．They are drawn on the photos. |
| C．They tell stories about ancient life. |
| D．They mainly show us historical sites. |
| A．Sudden injuries. | B．Travels with a master. |
| C．His sports career. | D．Photos by Pablo Picasso. |
| A．It needs a lot of light to draw the creatures. |
| B．There are few specific images of the creatures. |
| C．His technique is not suitable for the creatures |
| D．He has little knowledge of ancient books. |
| A．They will mainly praise medical workers. |
| B．They will express Wang’s ideas about art. |
| C．They will focus on important recent events. |
| D．They will contain traditional Chinese culture. |
Two new exhibitions, Shape or Shadow from the artist Zhang Gongque and Collect Them All from the street artist Michael Lau, were unveiled (揭幕) at the Guardian Art Center in Beijing over the weekend.
The Shape or Shadow exhibition explored the different
As Lau's first solo exhibition in Beijing, the Collect Them All exhibition features 12 paintings and three sculptures from the Hong Kong-based artist,
5 . Pop art, which emerged in the '50s and rose in popularity throughout the '60s, sought to challenge the idea of fine art.
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Andy Warhol is probably the most influential figure of Pop Art. He became a famous celebrity himself. Understanding ‘star-culture’, advertisement and the effect of the media, he made these the core of his work. His screenprinted images of Marilyn Monroe, Soup cans, and sensational newspaper stories, quickly became synonymous(同义词) with Pop art.
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997)
Roy Lichtenstein is one of the fathers of the Pop Art movement. In November 2015, Christie’s sold Lichtenstein’s ‘Nurse’ for a record $95.4 million. In this piece, as well as in other works, we can see how the enlarged imagery of adverts and comics with recognisable characters, highlights the ironic(讽刺好笑的) images and situations in every-day life.
Mimmo Rotella (1918-2006)
Italian artist Mimmo Rotella, was one of the most important figures of post-war European art. He combined pieces of adverts and posters in his works. For this technique he used a series of torn posters, gathering them to create a tremendously expressive and powerful aesthetic(美学). His works Sempre lei Marilyn (2002) and Viva America(1963) are easy to recognize.
James Rosenquist (1933-2017)
James Rosenquist can be considered one of the strongest and most influential modern Pop Art artists. His work dived deep into cinematography and advertising. He employed techniques which are conventionally used to create Commercial Art. His works appear as an overwhelming mixture of fragmented(成碎片的) images of current celebrities, everyday objects and popular foods - giant lipsticks or spaghetti. If you go to Centre Pompidou, Paris, you can see his work President-Elect.
1. What artwork will you turn to if you are interested in Andy Warhol?| A．Marilyn Monroe. | B．Nurse. |
| C．Viva America. | D．President-Elect. |
| A．Andy Warhol. | B．Roy Lichtenstein. |
| C．Mimmo Rotella. | D．James Rosenquist. |
| A．They are typical fine art. |
| B．They show ironic everyday life. |
| C．They employ traditional techniques. |
| D．They are somewhat related to commercials. |
6 . Michael Nesmith, the guitarist of the 1960s pop group The Monkees, died at the age of 78. The famed singer-songwriter, who composed some of the band’s catalogue, including tracks such as “Papa Gene's Blues,” “You Told Me” and “You Just May Be the One,” died of natural causes on Friday morning, according to the statement released by his family.
The Monkees member Micky Dolenz is now the only surviving member of the group. “I’m heartbroken. Dolenz said in a statement following Nesmith’s death. The Monkees television debut (首演) turned him and fellow band members Dolenz, Peter Tork and David Jones into overnight rock stars. The show, which premiered in 1966, rocketed the group to fame, scoringNo.1 hits and chart-topping albums. During the two-year run, The Monkees: won the 1967 Emmy for best comedy series.
Following the group’s breakup in 1970, Nesmith moved on to a long and creative career, not only as-a musician but as a writer, producer and director of films, author of several books, head of a media arts company and creator of a music video format that led to the creation of MTV.
Nesmith rarely rejoined the others for reunion tours, leading many to believe he disliked the band and the show, something he steadfastly denied. For the Monkees’30th anniversary he persuaded the others to reunite to record a new album, “Justus,” for which all four composed the songs and played the instruments. He also rejoined the others for a brief tour and wrote and directed their 1997 TV reunion film, “Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees.”
After fighting for creative control in The Monkees in the late 1960s, Nesmith went on to form the country rock outfit. The First National, which scored a top 25 hit in 1970 with “Joanne” according to Billboard.
1. What makes The Monkees rise to fame overnight?| A．Its numerous tracks. | B．Its creative members. |
| C．Its 1967 Emmy award. | D．Its first television show. |
| A．Accomplished. | B．Get-it-alone. |
| C．Enthusiastic. | D．Simple-minded. |
| A．A fast trip. | B．A short holiday. |
| C．A road show. | D．A temporary party. |
| A．A band. | B．A musician. |
| C．Hit shows. | D．Golden compositions. |
7 . At the first exhibition of Henri Rousseau’s paintings in 1886, the public laughed out loud, and critics made fun of his original, unschooled style, one writing "Monsieur Rousseau paints with his feet, and his eyes covered.”
Despite heavy criticism throughout his life, Rousseau kept painting, confident in his gift. He never received formal training in the arts because his family was too poor. For more than twenty years, he worked at the Paris customs office. It wasn’t until the age of 40 that he took up the brush, teaching himself to paint by copying works at the Louvre and studying nature. “Nothing makes me so happy as to observe nature and to paint what I see.” he said.
Though his best-known paintings are of jungle scenes with monkeys, lions, and small woods, Rousseau never left France or saw a jungle. To paint foreign plants and animals, he relied on books, botanical gardens(植物园) in Paris,and his imagination. "When I go into the glasshouse and I see the strange plants of faraway lands,” he once said, "it seems to me that I enter into a dream.”
Rousseau claimed to have invented a new style of painting called the landscape-portrait, in which he paints a background view and then adds a person in the foreground later, as he did in Myself: Portrait-Landscape (1890).
Called a naive (天真) artist due to his childlike, untrained style, Rousseau painted colors one at a time, starting from the top and working his way down. While critics described his works as flat and inexact descriptions of nature, he earned the respect of artists like Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky, who thought Rousseau was onto something new.
Though his work was never accepted by the art world in his time, Rousseau’s paintings hang in museums around the world today. And Rousseau’s original approach to art has inspired countless artists to follow their own unique views.
1. Why did Rousseau have no formal training in arts?| A．Because he preferred painting in his own way. |
| B．Because he was afraid of being criticized by others. |
| C．Because his family couldn’t afford the training. |
| D．Because there were more to be found in nature. |
| A．He was unwilling to develop a personal style. |
| B．He moved to a jungle to study nature. |
| C．He came from an artistic family. |
| D．He was indeed a self-taught painter. |
| A．It is black-and-white. | B．It is simple and original. |
| C．It presents social reality. | D．It employs persons in the background. |
| A．Rousseau ’s works have now been recognized. |
| B．Rousseau earned a good reputation in his time. |
| C．Rousseau encouraged young artists to follow his footsteps. |
| D．Rousseau’s paintings have hardly ever been shown in museums. |
8 . The outbreak of the epidemic has caused inconvenience to people’s life. Being forced to stay at home during the COVID-19 lockdown has been something of a
The 72-year-old multi-Grammy Award-winner, whose
The singer was first
Olivia says that she believes there are always going to be
| A．beginning | B．belonging | C．blessing | D．ending |
| A．guilty | B．confused | C．excited | D．strange |
| A．attended | B．enjoyed | C．cancelled | D．reserved |
| A．changing | B．waiting | C．fighting | D．travelling |
| A．records | B．books | C．stories | D．movies |
| A．calling on | B．resting on | C．carrying on | D．looking on |
| A．single | B．aim | C．purpose | D．position |
| A．explored | B．observed | C．contracted | D．launched |
| A．receives | B．permits | C．carries | D．improves |
| A．examined | B．diagnosed | C．found | D．inspected |
| A．swears | B．happens | C．refuses | D．threatens |
| A．meals | B．hospitals | C．medicines | D．companies |
| A．sold | B．owned | C．controlled | D．founded |
| A．volunteer | B．advocate | C．protester | D．follower |
| A．normally | B．specially | C．extremely | D．eventually |
| A．natural | B．exhausted | C．conscious | D．healthy |
| A．diseases | B．challenges | C．decisions | D．comments |
| A．determines | B．realizes | C．lifts | D．demands |
| A．anger | B．anxiety | C．curiosity | D．negativity |
| A．open | B．honest | C．grateful | D．generous |
