British painter Mervyn’s weeklong Chinese painting exhibition successfully concluded in November, 2013.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held by the Confucius Institute of Bangor University on November, 5th. More than 50 distinguished guests were invited to attend the ceremony including the mayor of Bangor city; artists in art, film and television, and painting; teachers and students from the Law School, International Department, Music School, Modern Languages School and Business School of Bangor University; people from Chinese community and many from other walks of life. The welcoming speech was delivered by Dr. David, Foreign Executive Director of the Institute and Prof. Zhang Liying, the Chinese Co-Director of the Institute, in Welsh, English, and Chinese respectively. Afterwards, Mervyn himself gave a wonderful description of the history and experiences of British painters who have been visiting China and painting Chinese society and cultural customs since the 19th century. He also expressed his deep gratitude to the Institute for supporting his exhibition.

Mervyn’s 46 works painted during his travels in China, from 2001 to 2008, were presented in the exhibition. These paintings depicted traditional dwellings, buildings of different styles, natural landscapes, daily life and the ordinary people doing about their daily lives witnessed by him during his visits to Beijing, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Anhui, Haikou, Hebei, Xinjiang, and so on. For each work he would spend two or three days painting on location. That’s a challenging feat for over 70 years old painters.

During the exhibition, an audience vote for the favorite five paintings was organized by the Institute and two lectures were delivered by Mervyn. Unfortunately, some parties interested in the exhibition could not visit due to time constraints. Therefore, discussions were held by Bangor Museum, the Confucius Institute and the painter, hoping to hold another Mervyn Painting Exhibition at Bangor Museum in January next year to further artistic and cultural exchange between Britain and China.

The British painter and stage artist Mervyn was born in Cambridge. He received professional training in painting and art design at Cambridge and Manchester art school respectively and graduated with excellent marks. His works are frequently presented in notable British exhibitions and galleries, and have won a number of prestigious awards. As a senior stage designer, he has been active in the stage of modern European drama, film, and TV for more than 50 years.

Speech at the opening ceremony

Participants of the opening ceremony

The mayor of Bangor city, painter Mervyn and his wife, presidents of Confucius Institute

Mervyn’s signing session

Mr Rafael, the independent TV producer, coming from London to shoot the exhibition

The security guard is also a lover of the arts and is reading the artist’s explanations

Mervyn lecturing in blue sky bar

The results of “your favorite painting” poll

The favorite painting “Anhui Hong Cun”