The Art of Truth, Compassion, Tolerance consists of works from over twelve artists. Their backgrounds are varied and diverse in terms of professional experience, artistic styles and cultural upbringing. What they have in common in their practice of Falun Gong is united in an effort to express the myriad of experiences of living in it.
It was the release of Professor Kunlun Zhang, arrested for his belief in Falun Gong, from a Chinese brainwashing center in 2001 that spurred communication between the artists, many of whom have never even met face to face. In the course of sharing experiences and understandings over three years, the ideas for the exhibit began to take shape. Realist oil painting, or New-Renaissance, was chosen as the style for its narrative capabilities, accessibility and, above all, its simplistic purity. The exhibit would encompass four main themes: harmony, adversity, courage and justice.
By 2004 works that are part of the present collection began to be produced. Today there are 33 pieces in total. Artists include: Xiaoping Chen, Dr. Xiqiang Dong, Kathy Gillis, Yuan Li, Daci Shen, Weixing Wang and Dr. Kunlun Zhang.
