China's Farmers' Art, the contemporary art genre that is gaining in popularity among folk artists of rural China, will be on view at the United Nations headquarters in New York City for two days, May 21 - 23. The exhibition of paintings will be followed by a benefit auction at Gianguan Auctions New York on Sunday May 25th.

Entitled "The World's Sentiment - The Chinese Dream," the UN exhibition features more than 100 folk paintings selected from regions across China by the Chinese Peasant's Calligraphy and Painting Research Association. The rustic, often quirky, works-of-art offer vibrant and personal interpretations of country life in China. The emphasis is on local customs, festivals, children, and farm work. In a word, Chinese Farmers' art is China's version of Outsider Art - naïf, insightful and instantly appealing.

Created by rural artists with little to no training, the paintings are primarily gouache watercolors on rough paper. The compositions range from simple to complex, with some employing the hard-edged "keyline" technique of China's propaganda posters while others display abstractions reminiscent of Matisse and Picasso. China's rich mythology and design heritage also plays a role in the telling of the stories that also range from basic representations to complex genre paintings.

Chinese Farmers’ Art got its start in the 1950s when communist party encouraged rural communities and members of the army to engage in the pursuit of art. Notable, the farmers' vision of the Communist paradise was straightforward, appealing in both its intensity and insightfulness, a characteristic inherent in the best folk art. In the 1980s, as China began to expand its influence worldwide, Chinese Farmers' Art began to be shown internationally. This is the first time Farmers' Art is being shown at the United Nations.

Three regions of China dominate the rural art scene. They are Jilin and Shanghai Fengxian, Jinshan District, Shaanxi Huxian. Although some of the Farmer Artists represented in the exhibition have studied at institutions such as the Jinshan Peasant Painting Academy, many others are self-taught.