An Italian artist's quest into China's AI art

Lines and colors are the essence of Italian artist Matteo Montani's work. His solo exhibition, "Lifeline," is currently on display in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, where each piece showcases innovative technique and an irreproducible spontaneity.

During his stay in China, Montani has been exploring the relationship between artificial intelligence and art. "I'm here, in China, just for that," he said.

His first stop was the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where Professor Luo Baoquan guided him through the Human Factors Engineering Laboratory.

Following Professor Luo's recommendation, Montani visited the Guangzhou Museum of Art, where he encountered an immersive AI-generated painting titled "Four Seasons of Lingnan."

"Four Seasons of Lingnan" was not painted stroke by stroke by human hand. Instead, it was distilled by a large AI model from a dataset of over 2,000 artworks of the Lingnan school of painting. Clouds and mist drift softly across the walls, while lychees and banana leaves seem to breathe gently on the screen. As Montani stepped into the painting, he watched the four seasons turn before him.

"This is universal and also crosses the timeline, this line which connects nature and the future," he said.

Traveling southward, Montani met the artist Victor Wong in Hong Kong. Wong explained that artists have long sought a "secret recipe" for their craft. His own secret recipe is a robotic arm.

"It is always the decisions of an artist," Wong said. "When you apply a brush more or less, less and none, when you are going to say to yourself 'OK, enough,' then I can finish that."

Arriving in Shenzhen, Montani encountered a robot named Xiaoqi and asked where he could learn more about AI and art. Xiaoqi recommended the "Two AIs: Artistic Intelligence & Artificial Intelligence Design Exhibition."

Chen Yunjia, executive curator and lecturer at the China Academy of Art, welcomed Montani and introduced the exhibition, saying, "Art and design gives us more opportunities to perceive the world and explore unknown fields. I think AI may offer us more possibilities for such critical thinking."

The journey has transformed Montani's perspective. "I've experienced just a drop of what AI systems can offer our world," he reflected. "But I'm grateful for this experience because I could touch it, and now I'm ready."

Intern Xiang Zhihan also contributed to this article.