Copenhagen & City Stream / China by contemporary Artist Lu Xinjian
Dyptich of Medium Scale Acrylic paintings on canvas
Through this commission curated by Somexing Artistic, Chinese contemporary artist Lu Xinjian reinterprets Carlsberg’s 175-year legacy through his acclaimed City Stream series — a reflection on how cities, like rivers, carry history, movement, and exchange.
Drawing inspiration from Carlsberg’s journey “from Copenhagen to the world,” Lu created two paintings — City Stream / Copenhagen and City Stream / China — that express the brand’s pioneering spirit of exploration and cultural dialogue. Using his signature aerial abstraction, the artist translates urban cartographies into rhythmic patterns of color and geometry: Copenhagen, seen as an “Endless Summer Day,” radiates light and calm vitality; China, portrayed as “Neon Nights,” captures the intensity and energy of contemporary life.
Under Somexing Artistic’s curatorial direction, City Stream connects heritage and modernity, transforming Carlsberg’s story into a contemporary visual language of flow, transformation, and continuity.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
City stream / Copenhagen & City Stream / China
Entitled City Stream, the diptych by Lu Xinjian comprises two acrylic paintings on canvas — City Stream / Copenhagen and City Stream / China — commissioned by Somexing Artistic to mark Carlsberg’s 175th anniversary.
In these works, Lu applies his precise linear abstraction, mapping each city through flowing networks of lines and color. Drawing from photographic sources, he distills urban architecture into fluid compositions where rivers, grids, and highways merge into vibrant harmony.
The Copenhagen canvas captures the warmth of sunrise and the serenity of water — a nod to the brand’s origins along the Danish coast — while the China canvas vibrates with the pulse of neon-lit cities, expressing the dynamism of the brand’s contemporary expansion.
Together, the paintings evoke the rhythm of time and progress: a dialogue between day and night, history and innovation, linking Carlsberg’s birthplace to its future. Guided by Somexing Artistic’s expertise in art curation and cross-cultural collaborations, City Stream becomes both an artwork and a metaphor — a celebration of heritage in motion.
Technique
Acrylic on canvas
Format
120 x 140 cm each
Project
Creative process
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lu Xinjian
Chinese contemporary artist, Lu Xinjian is a known for creating highly graphical and colorful paintings. Deeply rooted in the neoplasticism of Piet Mondrian, Lu Xinjian’s lines draw on abstraction to represent modern metropolises by interpreting their DNA in complex geometric shapes and saturated colors. His City DNA series takes satellite images of cities as a starting point and translates them into iconic lines and symbols overlooking the urban landscape, proposing a unique aesthetic and rhythm for each city. Some familiar cities open up to the viewer from a new perspective. In recent years, his City Stream series interprets the density and flow of cities, while his Reflections portray the tranquil essence of monuments through their reflection in water.
