Beijing-based artist Shen Jingdong is known for creating the subjects in which he blends comic cuteness with a luminous texture of colorful candies. The smiling figures in his paintings and sculptures, whether it is a noble or an ordinary man, look as innocent as a child, but he hopes to draw people’s attention to the suffering behind the smiles.

Shen’s solo exhibition, Guns N’ Roses, which opens on Sunday at Beijing’s Parkview Green Art gallery, shows his recent works that combine heroism with childlike purity and runs through Sept 15.