The paintings then can be said to represent an attitude of mind. Jia Aili does not seek to invoke a theory, or deconstruct an aspect of the socio-political climate as many contemporary Chinese painters have done, and which was a particular trend in the late 1980s. He is thus something of a conundrum: he makes art very much of the present in terms of the sensibilities with which he imbues it and the issues he tackles, and yet does so by means that are wholly familiar in terms of how oil paint is brought to canvas, and how the compositions are structured.