Freehand brushwork with vivid touch is the tradition of the ancient Chinese arts, like ink painting, calligraphy, poetry and opera. The oriental verve is the same although the presenting manners are different. With a thousand of year history, both Chinese traditional painting and opera have shaped a certain form of expression which's called the set pattern. This pattern is extracted from the nature but more than nature, it's also refreshable that it can consummate and diversify itself.
 
Guan Qijun just tries to redefine the concept of characters - Sheng (male), Dan (female), Jing (painted face), and Chou (antic) in Peking opera that we have already known. In his paintings, space time is reset so that Peking opera master Mei Lanfang encounters 'the forth wall' created by Bertolt Brecht; the hero Guan Gong from Three Kingdoms can fight with Qing Qiong who lived in 400 years later and Bao Yue, the amorous childe is able to date with the pretty Dian Chan who existed in Three Kingdom period…
 
Breaking down the space and time is the way to get rid of the inherent idea and build up a brand new visual surface. The rebuilt world seems specious but that's what Guan looks for, and, this disorder looking-for is just the most enjoyable part for a creator.