The urbanisation of China and the influx of western value systems are explored through a series of large scale wall paintings by artist Hugo Dalton. The immediate subject of the work is a plant known as Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera). This plant was imported into Europe in 1839 and grown in gardens for its ornamental qualities. It is sometimes called ‘poor man’s orchid’ as it allowed ordinary people to grow flowers similar to the expensive fashion of orchids grown by the rich in their glasshouses. The plant escaped its domestic confines and has now spread over large parts of the countryside outgrowing and therefore replacing native species.

Hugo Dalton is British artist who has exhibited worldwide including the Victoria and Albert Museum London, The Today Museum Beijing, The Courtauld Institute of Art London. Critic Edward Lucie-Smith called his work “…a rebellion towards elegance”.

*image (left)
© Hugo Dalton
courtesy of the artist