Michael Chow dabbed oil pigments and cracked eggs on his works, to capture his visions of pollution, wars and bomb explosions, among other problems of human society.[Photo provided to China Daily]

With all these skills he'd inherited, Chow says he could assimilate into different cultures of the cities he lived in and develop an ability of self-education. And he has injected in his works the abilities he has mastered from engaging in different professions over the past five decades.

The exhibition, titled Voice for My Father, is also part of a series of celebrations of the 120th anniversary of Zhou Xinfang's birth in Shanghai, with events there as well as in the capital. Dozens of old stage photos showing Zhou's innovations to the Peking Opera are also on display.

"It is an epic script I wrote for and about my father and his journey throughout his lifetime. His career coincidentally reflected many important events in China," he says. "To me, my father represents the spirit and strength of China.

"My paintings, like the Qi School my father founded, are universal and powerful in every detail."

The show includes a short video titled The Recipe for a Painter that Chow directed, showing how he handles the heavily physical working process. He says a painting may include 4,000 instances of stapling, burning and hammering.

He has employed an assistant for only the past year to help with "a little bit" of the work, he says, because the creating process should be very personal and only the personal things make what are universal. He works with the same efforts and attention to details that he requires of the staff at Mr Chow to place a wine cup, fold a napkin and hold a tray, he says.

"Craft is seeking for perfection; art is seeking for expression. Craft is functional and art is useless, that is why art is superior.

"I'm in my 70s and I want to do it passionately and quickly."