Ju Ming (Zhu Ming)

incised in Chinese and dated 91

Taipei, Caves Art Center
Acquired by the present owner from the above

There is evidence of scattered splitting across the surface of the sculpture, a small dent on top of the head and few at the back, due to the nature of the medium. This work is in excellent condition overall.
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Taichi Series - Turn Stomp by Ju Ming
Strength and grace, form and spirit

Ju Ming's early works focused on subject material such as water buffalos tilling fields, birds foraging for food, and folk deities such as Mazu and Guan Yu. Through this approach, he became an important spokesperson of the Taiwanese native arts movement. Later, in the 1970s, he began studying taichi. He gradually recognized the Eastern cultural essence contained within the martial art, and he attempted to incorporate the inspiration and knowledge he attained from its practice into his own creative work. In an interview on this subject, Ju Ming stated, "In its highest state, taichi is about relaxation, depth, and being aware of internal strength and focus. It is a sedate and reserved martial art. In my recent work, I have tried to be as simple as possible. It is best to not reveal even a trace of artifice, but rather, simply grasp the spirit of expressing the rhythm of taichi." Herein lies the origins of Ju Ming's world-renowned Taichi series.

Earning international fame through momentous artistic achievements

The Taichi series transcended conventional understandings of sculpture while richly expressing traditional Eastern aesthetics. As a consequence, Ju Ming won immediate international recognition and became known as the most representative of Chinese artists. He has been invited to show his Taichi series at numerous domestic and international exhibitions, and the sculptures have been collected by world-class art institutions, including the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan, the world's largest outdoor sculpture garden, as well as the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Hong Kong's The Landmark. The series not only affirmed Ju Ming's esteemed status in international art circles, but also helped him achieve eye-catching sales in the art market. 

Since its inception, the Taichi series has evolved over the course of nearly twenty years. The early sculptures expressed simplifications of the movements of taichi, but Ju Ming clearly understood that if his works merely recreated the forms of taichi, then they would at best be nothing more than imitations. He could only cast off the fetters of form and achieve complete artistic freedom by allowing his spiritual sentiments to engage in highly conscious dialogue with the external world. In this way, he returned to that primary, ineffable sensation felt by creators when confronting their work.

We can see in Ju Ming's work the vital experience of an artist interacting with various materials: how to use a dialogue between martial art and sculpture to achieve expression, to gradually guide the chisel according to one's will and created the intended line with the least possible trace of artifice. The sculptures attain a unity of form and spirit, a sense of movement that betrays temporality, and an inspired balance of matter and void. Ultimately, there is a certain divergence between actual taichi movements and what the observer perceives in the form of the sculpture. This ambiguity that perfectly embodies the words of the great modern Chinese painter, Qi Baishi: "The subtlety of creative work lies between the familiar and the unfamiliar. If it is too familiar, then it is vulgar; if it is completely unfamiliar, then it is fraudulent." 

Turn Stomp: a unity of motion and stillness 

Taichi Series - Turn Stomp, the sculpture now on the auction block, is composed of neatly and confidently carved faces. Careful scrutiny reveals that the head, shoulders, and kicking leg of the sculpted figure all lie on the same horizontal plane; the two legs, one outstretched in a kick, one firmly planted, form a harmonious equilibrium, and effect a lifelike sense of physical strength and vigor. 

The material of Ju Ming's sculpture retains its original texture and grain, and the result is a meditative simplicity that blurs the lines between the figure and the natural world. Here, the sculptor shows the masterful skill he has attained in his pursuit of balance between strength and grace, and unity of motion and stillness. His skill recalls Chuang Tzu's account of Chef Ting butchering an ox: "At every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet, every thrust of his knee—zip! zoop! He slithered the knife along with a zing, and all was in perfect rhythm, as though he were performing the dance of the Mulberry Grove or keeping time to the ching-shou music." The motion of the arms and legs is perfectly relaxed and free, evoking the beauty of a blade wielded in time to music. The sculpture is less the displacement and transformation of a certain image and more a visual interpretation of Dao, in which everything is illuminated through respiration and reflection. This work has been perfectly preserved in a major Asian private collection for the past ten years, and is being auctioned for the first time today, yielding a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire a treasure.