Photos provided to China Daily

CYAP works not only to discover and support the country's new generation of young artists, but to stimulate creativity, establish new cultural values, organize larger, more global events, and build support with media and other promotional outlets.

Curator Jia says: "To appreciate this exhibition titled Color Temperature, one needs to know that the Chinese character for temperature wen has multiple positive additional emotional meanings like warmth and caring.

"So this exhibition is about the relationship between colors and the emotional temperatures they generate in the mind's eye of the viewer. Since viewers' life experiences color their perceptions, combinations are infinite."

Some of the most interesting works include The Female Characters, a multimedia installation by Hunan artist Tao Aimin. It concentrates on women's traditional chores through washboards and evokes the now-extinct secret language of women.

The other attractive pieces are Nyushu; Double Seats, a whimsical oil painting in Western style from the imagination of northeast female artist Geng Yini whose pet pig charmed everyone who viewed it; and The Fall by Chen Langmu, a dark surreal oil painting with the skeleton of a crashed small plane being viewed by a skeletal couple on a motorcycle modeled from metal model toys in his studio.

The venue of the exhibition is no accident because the venerable 130-year-old art academy has an affinity for Chinese culture.

In 2012, it hosted the exhibition Colors of Dunhuang during the Year of Chinese Culture in Turkey. It recently established a new department of Chinese language and literature.