Zhuo Min was born into a family full of artistic atmosphere in Shanghai, in 1958. A lover of both painting and calligraphy since his childhood, he went to Industrial Middle School, an affiliated middle school of Shanghai Art and Craft Manufactory, to study.
During that time, besides taking some ordinary courses a middle school usually offered, he studied traditional Chinese painting and industrial art, and finished basic trainings on plastic art, sketch included. Learning from two famous artists, Liu Bonian and Shen Shijia, at that period, deepened his love for painting, and from then on, Zhuo endeavored to gain art-theory proficiency.
In 1970s, Shanghai Art Museum held an exhibition of modern Japanese paintings. Greatly attracted, Zhuo soon went to the famous Musashino Art University to study art. After graduation, he went on to pursue his master's degree in Art in the University of Tsukuba.
During his studies in Japan, Zhuo found that rock color painting, originated in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), prospered in Japan. A descendant of the Chinese people, Zhuo felt obliged to restore the prestige of rock color painting. For many years, he traveled to and fro between China and Japan, making comparisons and researches on rock color paintings of Buddhas in the Dunhuang Caves and modern Japanese rock color paintings. In his effort to blaze a new trail for rock color paintings featured Chinese characteristics, Zhuo grew up to be an outstanding painter as well as an theorist.
Zhuo's rock color paintings mainly fall into three categories: human body, Beijing Opera characters, and architecture.
Unlike Japanese artists who prefer the exquisite and gentle painting-style, Zhuo likes such profound topics as human nature, history, and society. Since a lot of importance has been attached to paintings' internal structures and dark color is often employed, Zhuo's paintings give the audiences a strong spiritual touch.
His works about human body, with bodies slightly distorted and surroundings resembling nothingness, convey the universal and internal emotions of human beings. Vibration and thought-provoking philosophic elements are felt through dominant deep black color and white scratches.
Zhuo's Beijing Opera characters are rich-colored. Artistic exaggeration is
often employed through theatrical costumes and adornments in gaudy colors. He also uses dazzling gold color and dense ink to create a resplendent and magnificent visual effect. Modern western modeling method is also used on purpose to meddle the visual space and smash the images, making the works more powerful and lively.
As a Shanghainese, Zhuo is not only deeply attached to Shanghai's past, but also Shanghai today.
His architecture series is a real reflection of the city's history and reality. Shanghai, a City with Gay Night Life presents the audience Shanghai's symbolic architecture group: Shanghai Bund architecture group in gorgeous golden color. This painting is not only a recall of old Shanghai, but also a forecast for Shanghai's splendid future. In Shanghai Viaduct Bridge, under-construction viaduct bridges are put into abstract forms. With Western focusing perspective theory and various colors of minerals and metals used, this painting is dignified and imposing. These works mentioned above have generally won applause both in China and beyond.
Zhang Peicheng, a Shanghai artist spoke highly of Zhuo Min: "His works are not confined to subject matters themselves, for they have made breakthroughs of the materials used. There is some concept and idea deeply imbued in his works." The concept and idea behind Zhuo's works is his sense of historical mission and of responsibility for national culture rejuvenation. Maybe that is why his paintings are so splendid and heartshaking.
(China Pictorial February 18, 2005)
