The surrealistic quality gives the images a heightened unreal feeling, hence disconnecting the subject from any contextual reference. Liu Qinghe graduated in 1987 from the Folk Art Department of CAFA, where he also earned a Master's Degree in Chinese Painting in 1989. In 1992, he completed a residency program at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain. Using the traditional medium of ink and color on paper, Liu's works are far from being traditional. His figures possess a grotesque realism.
Facial features are exaggerated yet they reveal few emotions.
The men and women are depicted in mundane settings while their attire proclaims a comfortable middle-class status. This false sense of security is betrayed by a disturbing emotional distance that the viewer can discern between the figures. Grim as it may sound, Liu's paintings convey the tensions, superficiality and banality in this class of people. Zhang Yajie graduated from the Department of Printmaking at CAFA in 1984 and currently teaches Photography and Art History at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute. Using exclusively blacks and grays and whites, he creates portraits of people with identifiable emotions.