Hong Kong media personality Benny Li exhibits his paintings for the first time

Benny Li Shun-yan wears many hats – he’s a newspaper columnist, television host and most recently, an ink painter. Having discovered his knack for painting only three years ago, the 60-year-old is now holding an exhibition at Yan Gallery in Central.

There are 25 paintings featured in the exhibition “Art from the Heart”. They include a self-portrait, depictions of nature and some whimsical illustrations – one depicts a man dressed in red descending from the sky onto a beach full of curvy naked women.

“This is a scene from a dream,” says Li.

The selected works reflect his creativity, sense of humour and extensive travels – with scenes of Australia’s National Botanic Gardens; Ronda, a mountaintop city in Spain; and dzos (cow-yak hybrids) in Tibet among his subjects.

While Chinese painting is a relatively new hobby for Li, the art form has interested him since his youth. Li was raised by his grandparents in Shanghai, who instilled in him an appreciation for Chinese art and calligraphy.

As a 10-year-old boy, he was handpicked to participate in a drawing class. But he lost his chance because of the Cultural Revolution. “I was deemed to have foreign connections because my father is a Chinese Indonesian and I was not allowed to join,” says Li.