Globalisation is the buzzword of our era - the process through which local cultures, traditions, ways of life and values comesintosconflict with or merge with international ones. Even though many consider it to be on the wane, the West is the dominant society of our time and it is the source of these international elements. international because people across the world have all adopted similar and recognisable elements from western culture: architecture, dress, habits etc. China is a countryswheresthis process is in full swing. Gone are the days when a foreigner was a rare sight in China's cities, however in remote parts of the countryside this may still be the case, and when there was no choice other than Made in China? Westerners, western goods, western architecture and western ways are present to some extent in most Chinese cities. MacDonald's has yet to open in every Chinese city but this time is not far away.

　　In the major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai the transformation is the most evident. Chinese government city planners are imposing on their cities a physical and psychological revolution. Old neighbourhoods are being entirely erased and replaced by buildings the planners consider worthy of a modern, first world nation - tower blocks and glass encased skyscrapers similar to any other modern city. There may be an abstracted detail from ancient Chinese architecture somewhere in the design of these new buildings but the basic format is the same as in New York, London or Kuala Lumpur. The erasure of traditional neighbourhoods results in the displacement of communities and the destruction of a long standing social structure. The young eagerly absorb western fast food, clothes, music etc., their parents are proud to be able to offer their children these latest things and grandparents usually look on bewildered.

　　Artists are acutely sensitive witnesses to this time of physical and social upheaval. Many feel powerless to have any influence in front of such changes. They are at the same time swept up in the movement with the rest of society and observers on the edge of society thanks to their, in China, unorthodox position as independent artists. Lu Peng as both a teacher of art and an independent artist is on the inside and the outside. He is inside the structure of the Chinese work unit, a regulated and rigid structure. He is also outside this system as an independent artist and can look at the work unit with some distance. As with the majority of artists of his generation, those born during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Lu Peng is engrossed in the metamorphosis of Chinese society. His works are a collection of personal experiences, memories and fantasies, metaphors for the estrangement and intimacy of contemporary China. The technique is traditional Chinese, ink and colour on paper, while the subject matter is everything but traditional, a chaotic and fascinating mix of the traditional, the communist and the consumer.

　　In his Through the Wall series, walls symbolise present Chinese societyswheresthe artist feels half in, half out, somewhere between the old, regimented social system and the new one of undefined, constantly mutating boundaries. These works are full of movement and energy. There is no rest, no peace. The main figures are the young generation living in a fringe zoneswheresall is in flux,swheresthe Chinese and foreign elements meet to either mingle or clash. The traditional is represented through characters from Peking Opera and traditional fabrics and designs. The traditional and the new coexist with fascinating fluidity in these works while the energy of the fringe dominates.

　　In the whirlwind of forward motion the figures take with them an assortment of symbolic items or markers, traditional, communist and contemporary: red arms bands from communist neighbourhood surveillance committees, fragments of traditional armour and cloth, contemporary glasses and haircuts, communist pigtails, horse and fish - symbols of freedom and prosperity, fragments of classical Chinese architecture, skyscrapers, communist caps. As if this were not enough to transmit the tumult the artist senses in contemporary society, the paintings are activated by many signs, characters and arrows which lead the eye all over the work. One can hear the noise of these works and feel the energy.

　　Lu Peng's latest series, Capital Night, continues the depiction of this society in flux and the emotions that go with it. The walls have disappeared from the works and the energy of flux has taken over the entire creation. It is perhaps indicative that the old structure is rapidly and significantly giving way to the fusion of the Chinese and the international. The new series is called Capital Night because Lu Peng feels that the changes which have taken place in his city, Beijing, are so tremendous that Beijing is now similar to any other international capital city. He senses this is particularly so at night when people feel freer and less inhibited. Also, nightlife and a specific type of nightlife - cafes, bars, clubs - is something that has been imported from outside China. Under Mao and particularly during the Cultural Revolution the streets of Beijing were dark and empty by 8 o'clock in the evening.

　　There is a new emotion expressed in Lu Peng's works with respect to his earlier works and that is uncertainty. In earlier works all figures were painted realistically and easily identifiable. In the new series, Capital Night, the depiction of various elements, for example horses and candles wrapped in what appears to be bands of cloth, signifies that all is not clear. One can guess what the figure is but the detail is missing and thus things may not be what they seem to be. This is a product of the state of change in which Beijing and its citizens find themselves. Lu Peng is not the only artist to have sensed this uncertainty, the feeling that what is accepted today may well be tomorrow either old hat or forbidden. The movement of change is not necessarily in one direction. The local forces do not always give in to the international ones and the momentum may swing either way at any time. Thus the uncertainty stems not only from unfamiliarity with the new and the continual pace of change but also, in a communist country, from a concern about what elements of change will be permitted. Change is nothing new for the Chinese, the only difference beingswherespreviously any change was ordered by and led by the authorities, contemporary change is akin to an independent and uncontrollable force which has a momentum of its own.