Li Shurui graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute but is now based in Beijing; she is internationally recognized for her large-format compositions and light-centric motifs executed with an airbrush, which investigates the intimate relationship between the abstract concepts of light and space. On the basis of her physiological and metaphysical observations of light and its spectrum, Li Shurui explores in her Lights series polar light, cities at night, black holes and stars in her Lights series, trying to depict her limited knowledge of physics in terms of other universes and the tangible frontiers of our consciousness.
 
A graduate of Oil Painting Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Wang Guangle ha said, “If I am to paint, I will paint the passage of time itself which concerns the essence of my life.” With his intensely contemplative works, Wang’s practice takes on a ritual character. He wants to capture the passage of an uncertain light varying over time and space in works imbued with spirit. Initiated in 2003, his Coffin Paint series involves the application of regular morning and evening strokes of oil or acrylic paint on canvas. This process is inspired by a tradition of his native area of Fujian, where elders paint their coffins with red lacquer at regular intervals toward the ends of their lives. In his Untitled series, Guangle paints rectangular fields in which each layer of paint is applied from the far edges toward the centre. This results in an illusionistic depth; the lighter tones of the composition act as a framing device, creating a subtle gradation of colour and the effect of an illuminated rectangle or void. Thus, cultural rituals and the passage of time melt into a purely formal language. The process of painting and the abstract expression of time are intrinsically entangled with Chinese traditions.
 
In contrast to the incessant acceleration of our lives in an ultra-contemporary urban world, Enlightening Times offers itself as a meditative space, a journey into worlds of colour that underscores the vital dimension of light and time.