Renowned sculptor Ju Ming’s ‘Taichi Series’ interprets the movements and postures of Taichi, which draws from the Taichi concepts of the mutual genesis of yin and yang and the unity of heaven and man. The series first began with single Taichi practitioner, and from the 1980s onwards, the series began to feature a pair of sparring partners, which is extremely rare. In the present Taichi Series (Lot 1033), two sparring partners form a coherent whole—the attacker on the right is posed in a steady “bow stance,” with arms outstretched and palms facing outwards. His body and legs form a straight diagonal line, channeling physical strength. The defender on the left wraps his own body with both arms. Carved into large, unarticulated angular blocks, his legs form a powerfully stable arch. Posed in balanced tension, the two figures form a harmonious whole without losing their individuality, manifesting the dynamics of movement and stillness and the endless cyclicality that lies at the heart of Taichi as a philosophy. Ju Ming began his apprenticeship as a sculptor at age 15. At age 30, he became a disciple of the most prominent master sculptor Yuyu Yang and began his career in modern sculpture. The 1980s was a turning point for Ju Ming’s ‘Taichi Series’. He pursued two parallel paths—on one hand, he began to cast the models first made in wood into bronze sculptures. This gradually led him to transition from wooden sculpture, with which he was most familiar with, to exploring the process and principles specific to bronze sculpture and discovering new forms and sculptural idioms. On the other hand, Ju Ming never completely abandoned his wood sculpture practice but continued to refine it with a minimalist and abstract orientation. A rare and precious example of Ju Ming’s works, Taichi Series combine the advantage of both materials by retaining the monumental scale of its wooden prototype in bronze cast. This work has the weight and solemnity of bronze yet preserves the subtle natural wood textures and the immediacy of wood carving. The artist’s swift hand follows the movements of his subjects, endowing them with dynamism. Here wood and bronze are no longer merely expressive means but are integral to the work’s meaning and content. Seamlessly integrating the harmonious tension between the rigid and the pliable foundation of Taichi, Ju Ming has created a new and vital sculptural language. One important fact to point out is another edition of the work was illustrated in Taipei Hanart TZ Gallery Ju Ming 1976-1993 published in 1994.

雕塑大師朱銘的「太極系列」取法陰陽相生、天人合一的太極拳招式，其雕塑早期為單一的人物動作，自80年代起則呈現二人一組的對打形態，非常珍罕至極。這對《太極系列》（拍品編號1033）由對打的二者構成一個整體，右邊攻者弓步穩紥，雲手外推，身腿恰成斜綫，力貫而出；左邊守者雙手相抱，腿部以大體塊雕琢，但卻幷未將其完全鑿開，而是形成封合的拱門狀，呈現出敦實有力的守御之態，難分伯仲，於相互對抗中又自成一體，充分展現出太極行雲流水的動靜之感與循環不息的精神內蘊。朱銘15歲即拜師開始傳統雕刻事業，三十歲拜入雕塑界大師楊英風門下，並開始現代雕塑創作。80年代是朱銘「太極系列」的一個轉折點，他在創作路向上並行探索：一方面，他以木材為原模，再翻鑄成銅雕作品，由他最熟悉的木雕過渡到銅雕創作，逐漸摸索出以銅為媒材的創作法則，發展了嶄新形式和雕刻語言。另一方面，朱銘仍然沒有放棄他所嫻熟的木雕，仍在繼續深化他的木雕創作，所不同的是，他沿著更簡潔、更抽象的方向行進。此對《太極系列》融彙木雕與銅雕之長，以大型體量可觀的木材為原模雕刻，再以銅為媒材進行翻鑄，實屬罕見，它的另一版數即曾於1994年臺北漢雅軒《朱銘1976-1993》書籍中出版。此件雕塑旣有靑銅樸重的體量質感，亦可見細膩自然的木材紋路及保留在其上利落有致、簡潔有力的刀法痕迹，順應招式動作之走向，觀之如招招生風，使材料不僅作為內容載體，亦融合為內容本身。這不僅造就了全新的雕塑形式，更完美地契合「太極」理念本身所內蘊的剛柔兼幷之特質，為雕塑帶來了出神入化的藝術生命力。