Artwork by Xiao Jiamo Selected for the 9th Fine Arts Exhibition of Painting Academies of China

On December 1, 2025, the final results of the 9th Fine Arts Exhibition of Painting Academies of China were announced. The oil painting "New Looks of Border Town: Portraits of the Era" by Xiao Jiamo, Head of the Oil Painting Teaching and Research Section at the Qi Baishi School of Art, was successfully selected.

The 9th Fine Arts Exhibition of Painting Academies of China, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is the highest-level professional exhibition within the academy system. After two rounds of evaluation, 599 works were selected from a total of 3,265 submissions nationwide for this exhibition. The selected pieces span a range of categories, including Chinese painting, oil painting, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and gouache, mixed media, as well as calligraphy and seal carving. Among these, 99 are oil paintings. The outstanding works will be exhibited at the Guangzhou Museum of Art in late December 2025.

"New Looks of Border Town: Portraits of the Era" is one of the representative works from Xiao Jiamo's "New Looks of Border town" series. With a grand scale of 170 × 230 cm, the work vividly portrays the development of Border Town in western Hunan in the new era. Through vivid group portraits and a strong contemporary atmosphere, it presents the new looks of border town against the backdrop of rural revitalization.

In this painting, traditional architecture interweaves with modern elements, and the characters' expressions are lively and natural. The work not only inherits the tradition of realistic creation but also incorporates innovative approaches of contemporary oil painting, reflecting Xiao's deep engagement with local culture and keen insight into the spirit of the times.

(Translated by DU Ying, LI Xiangyi ）