Venezuelan artist Nelson Jovandaric is ready to bring the public face to face with his newest bag of tricks.

In his quest to swim against mainstream currents, the dynamo is hosting his one-day-only Paper Bag Faces exhibition at Enoteca III bar, in The Place Shopping Center, today from 7 pm.

The works on show feature portraits of local and international Beijing residents depicted in a German impressionist style with acrylic colors and oil pastel on paper bags and other non-traditional media.

"Each one tells a story and the feelings of the people are my inspiration," says Jovandaric, who relocated from Maracay to Beijing six months ago in pursuit of his craft.

"China is an excellent place to search for human beings of different characters and mindsets," he says.

Jovandaric, chosen by the Venezuelan government to represent his homeland at the Capital Museum in The Eleventh China Art Exposition in 2004 and Third Exhibition of Art Works From Embassies in China this year, said he believed hosting such an exhibition in a bar was a maverick maneuver.

"It will get people closer to art," he says, "including those who wouldn't normally visit a gallery on their own.

"If you used conventional surfaces for painting - for example, canvass - you will think of a conventional venue, too."

A group he was involved with in Venezuela, Proyecto Nomada, hosted exhibitions in a deserted slaughterhouse and on the banks of Valencias Lake.

"Paper bags provide moments of creation for me, but it isn't all my work," he says.

"I'm in a mysterious country, with my mind open to the new colors, feelings and lifestyles."

(China Daily November 21, 2008)