Luo Zhongli's oil painting Father is from the collection of Beijing's National Art Museum of China.

"The Zhejiang Academy of Fine Art forbade the exhibition or publication of my work," Gu recalls.

"I was considered a thorn in traditional art's side."

Gu grew up in the 1960s and went through the periods of socialist idealism and the enlightenment of the '80s. He later moved to New York City.

His installation UN is the centerpiece of the exhibition's lobby. The work is a series of national flags created from hair he got from thousands of people around the globe.

Gu recalls there were no galleries in the country when he shifted from ink to experimental art.

"At first, it wasn't about the market but art for art's sake," he says.

Oil painter Zhang Enli, who lives in Shanghai, points out: "You couldn't know if you made the right choices or created a work of significance until years later."

Beijing native Yu Hong presents a self-portrait series with newspapers and documents from that period. Her paintings trace her childhood, marriage and family life.

Her works, which are displayed alongside newspapers from that time, chronicle the country's rapid economic development and social transformations.