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As Mao Ze-Dong, Abraham Lincoln, the Pope, the Statute of Liberty, Lenin, Stalin, and Marx appear in one picture, histories resurface against a grayish yellow backdrop. These political icons stride forward, side by side, with their arms and palms stretched wide open, an adamant look on their faces. They are the great men in Chinese artist Zhu Wei’s new oil painting sub-series, The Crossing—The Great Man. The Crossing, consisting of five sub-series, is Zhu’s attempt to investigate the world on a grander scale, to examine the relationship between man and earth. |
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Catherine Y. Hsieh
As Mao Ze-Dong, Abraham Lincoln, the Pope, the Statute of Liberty, Lenin, Stalin, and Marx appear in one picture, histories resurface against a grayish yellow backdrop. These political icons stride forward, side by side, with their arms and palms stretched wide open, an adamant look on their faces. They are the great men in Chinese artist Zhu Wei’s new oil painting sub-series, The Crossing—The Great Man. The Crossing, consisting of five sub-series, is Zhu’s attempt to investigate the world on a grander scale, to examine the relationship between man and earth. He exemplifies a “lack of difference between dignitaries and nobodies” as he says in his artist statement. The manufactured similarity in the characters in his paintings suggests a non-distinction that de-individualizes human beings.
The sub-series, The Great Man, explores the definition of “great men” in politics and religions. “Does the world really need them? Are they truly great?” Zhu puts forward the questions as he moves his paintbrushes across the canvas. While these figures possess historical significance, Zhu thinks they are no different than the rest of us, who are born into this world and must leave when their days come to an end. Great men are merely passersby in this world, just like ordinary people. Living in a new century, “people no longer idolize and worship these great men as God,” Zhu says in the statement. It is especially true when it comes to Chinese young generations, who he considers agnostic and sometimes apolitical.
Apolitical might young Chinese be, Zhu is determined to delve into politics in his work. Another sub-series, The Crossing—Globalization, portrays both Chinese and Western politicians wearing matching traditional Chinese outfits, dashing forward in identical choreographed posture. While current Chinese leader Hu Jin-Tao and past leaders of China, Deng Xiao-Ping and Mao Ze-Dong march together in pseudo-camaraderie, George W. Bush carries weapons under his belt, and Osama bin Laden has dynamite tied all over his body. The image denotes not only China’s overarching influence on the world but a universal “loss of cultural individuality” that stems from globalization, Zhu says of his work.
International conflicts are not the only theme in Zhu’s work. In one sub-series, The Crossing—Art, Contemporary Art, Chinese Contemporary Art, Western and Eastern artists from all periods of time show up on Zhu’s canvas. The notabilities of Chinese contemporary art run around the Western art masters in mischief. “This is an undeniable fact and a dilemma that exists in the Chinese art society…. Whether good or bad, anything that comes to China will be transformed into something uniquely Chinese….” Zhu says in his statement. At a time when Chinese contemporary art is so popular with the Western art collectors and critics, Chinese artists can easily be satisfied, even blinded by the idea of an overnight success. Zhu questions the validity of such a phenomena as he formally quotes many references in his paintings, including social realism and abstract expressionism. His use of warm and cool color palettes draws a contrast between the background and the characters. He criticizes serious social concerns with his playful cartoonish visages, seemingly making light of these issues while managing to bring them to viewers’ attention.
Sub-series like The Crossing—Environment Series “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” (Past, Present, Future) deals with the relationship between mankind and nature. Pollution becomes a central idea as Zhu scrutinizes the damage it is doing to the environment and the deterioration of human living conditions. In one painting, Tomorrow (the Future,) buildings in red and orange as if on fire stand tall in the backdrop as clouds and fogs of dark blue and black swarm behind. People in the foreground look up at the sky with open arms, “as if looking for some higher powers to bring them salvation.” Zhu depicts a world in the future with bold brushstrokes and daring color choices, which creates a flow of poetry in the composition. Other paintings in this series involve people, mostly women, sometimes naked, sometimes clothed, staring at the sky against a light yellow background, with rain coming down, an umbrella or two interjected above their heads. These women waiting to be rescued have different expressions on their faces, sometimes joyous, sometimes surprised, other times deadened. While clothes symbolize materialism, nakedness represents pristineness. Zhu explores oscillating human emotions between spiritual and material wants.
Zhu challenges matters in the realms of politics, art, and socialism with The Crossing series. With seemingly crude brushstrokes, Zhu translates an artistic language of his own into worldly discretion that renders each of his paintings a sophisticated interpretation of fundamental questions that affect us all.
