Karl Bang's paintings are unique because he combines totally different styles of painting within the same format. It is very difficult to design a balanced composition with realistic elements that are juxtaposed with flat colors and patterns. The faces of his subjects are painted realistically in the Western tradition with subtle gradations of color; while, his figures and costumes vignette into abstracted shapes, lines, flat colors and patterns that reflect Karl's background in China. It is as though there are different visual languages being spoken within his paintings.

A man drinks at a "colored" water cooler in a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City, July 1939. (Photo by Reuters/Library of Congress)

An Indian woman smeared in colors dances during Holi festival in Mumbai, India, Monday, March 29, 2021. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

People enjoy the color run in Guangzhou, Guangdong province of China on May 29, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Wildlife photographer Kevin Fleming has covered the world as a photographer for National Geographic and has been recognized America’s Best Observer by Readers Digest. His assignments have taken him into war and famine in Somalia, to the Mediterranean for a re-creation of the voyage of Ulysses and put him on a dogsled crossing the Canadian arctic. Now Kevin is working on his 27th book. Here: Red fox kits look out from a hollow log. (Photo by Kevin Fleming)

This photo provided by Running Press and Quarto, Inc. shows Feline Fox from the book, “Cats in Hats”, published by Running Press. The book released on March 24, 2015. (Photo by Liz Coleman/Running Press/Quarto, Inc. via AP Photo)

American pop star Nicole Scherzinger, 43, of NBC's Annie Live! and FOX's The Masked Singer visits The Empire State Building on November 12, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)

American actress and model Julia Fox is seen on the 'One Night Only' movie set at the 'White Horse Tavern' in the West Village, Manhattan on December 02, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)