Yu Youhan shows a dozen of his paintings made in the last decade at ShanghART Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Yu Youhan, one of the most influential artists in the contemporary Chinese art scene, has explored abstraction for four decades. The 77-year-old Shanghai native conveys a sense of increasing pleasure in his works, as he ages and further investigates the Chinese cultural identity.

Circle· Freedom, Yu's solo exhibition running at ShanghART Beijing through Sept 30, shows a dozen of his paintings created over the past decade.

Yu builds a distinguished pictorial vocabulary consisting of lines, dots and forms, revolving around the mysteries of the circle of life and the dynamic relationship between humans and nature.