SHEN Aiqi’s working method infuses his paintings with a strong sense of performance, setting his art apart from that of his shanshui forbears. The key issue is that Aiqi’s paintings are the direct expression of his emotional and spiritual state in the moment. His works are materialisations of Chinese philosophical thought, of traditional views on nature, and on the relationship between man and the universe. In this sense, Shen Aiqi’s shanshui painting can be considered as a form of Chinese contemporary art.