Ju Ming (Zhu Ming)

Kalos Gallery, Taipei 
Acquired from the above by the present owner

This work in overall very good condition. The work is consistent with the artist's chosen medium and working method.
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Taichi Boxing:
Heaven and Humanity as One, Forgetting All Matter and Self

It was the artist's initial exposure to Taichi that planted the seeds to what would become Ju Ming's Taichi Series, but it was when that exposure deepened into understanding that the artist, drifting from a like physical representation of Taichi, drew closer to the realm of pure aestheticism. Looking back at Ju Ming's Kungfu pieces from the 1976 exhibit at the Taipei Museum of History, one sees the stirring beginnings of the Taichi Series, the artist's departure from his nativist style, and the establishment of a personal aesthetic. Yet these early pieces draw their form from the artist's then-nativist style, and are a continuation of those techniques. As such, they display a more realist interpretation of Taichi. The Taichi Series formally developed, then, between the 80s and 90s. In addition to the ever-evolving representations of individual Taichi figures, the artist also created, before the mid-80s, sparring Taichi pairs with defined by smooth, flowing lines.

Created in 1991, Taichi Boxing (Lot 1042) features a pair of sparring figures, their postures exhibiting the Taichi principles of "softness conquering strength, striking second rather than first." The sculpted figure on the left is in the action of turning and raising his foot for a kick, the apparent first aggressor, while the figure on the right is engaged in the "pushing hands" motion of Taichi, observing and waiting to strike second. Taichi Boxing captures precisely the elements of Taichi sparring: attentive observation, understanding of the opponent, continuous adaption of one's position, resistance as crucial, selflessness in conduct, restraint in never striking first, generosity even when wronged; and in the back-and-forth between motion and stillness, one discovers a unconstrained yet orderly rhythm, reaching a state when heaven and humanity become one, forgetting all matter and self. Created during the 90s, when the artist Ju Ming had already attained artistic maturity, the Taichi Series fully exhibit the above qualities. In these pieces, the artist has imbued the rhythm of his own movement into the work, exhibiting not the Taichi movements the artist learned in his adult years, but displaying completely the Taichi spirit of unity of man with nature, interacting and imitating nature with all of one's four limbs, five features, blood, and breath.