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Turning the continuity of life and nature into art
By Xie Zuocan and Xu Wei |
September 26, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE life of oil painter Zhou Jiahua, a native of Jiading District, has taken an uneven way to fame.
The artist, who is now quite famous in the fields of painting and writing, seldom talks about of himself, as for his son Zhou Shiyuan, he immediately becomes quite talkative and feels most proud of the achievements he makes as a fine art photographer.
The photos the young man takes feature even a stronger visual impact and abstract flavor than an oil painting and people are likely to associate his talent with his father.
But Zhou gave his son enough freedom to study. He encouraged Zhou Shiyuan to indulge himself in subjects he was truly interested and even sent his son to Australia at the age of 16.
Zhou's affinity for oil painting was not handed down from his elders, but was the product of loneliness, the 55-year-old wrote in his autobiography "My Painting Stories."
"I fell in love with painting largely because I didn't have many companions in my childhood," Zhou says. "In the beginning it was a kind of graffiti just to entertain myself."
Although many of his paintings received recognition and praise from teachers at school, he didn't expect that a childhood hobby would develop into a life-long career.
At that time he enjoyed imitating the slogans and paintings he saw and designing illustrations for blackboard newspaper.
In 1977, Zhou was admitted to the fine arts department of the Shanghai Theater Academy. That was the beginning of his road to becoming a successful professional oil painter.
The Jiading District Post Office used to have a large oil painting "The Great Wall" on the wall of its lobby. The painting came from Zhou's first batch of works which were publicly exhibited in Jiading.
Back-to-nature style
Today Jiading also has a set of figure sculptures in front of the Jiading Cinema and a Confucius statue in the Confucius Temple initiated by Zhou who invited celebrated artists of the city to help make the art.
"My paintings reflect a sentimental mood for life and the irreversible law of nature," says Zhou.
Nature and people are the common subjects of Zhou's paintings. His "ladies" series are inspired by the ancient Dunhuang grotto frescoes while his "village" series depict the relationship between human and nature.
All these works not only convey a mood of solitude and detachment, but also show respect for the amazing spirit of nature and its indomitable vitality. That is also Zhou's reflection and thoughts about modern society.
"A good painting is always thought-provoking," he adds. As an artist, his creation style and interest on painting originates from his rich life experience. Zhou says that inspiration is not a must for his creation as he can paint anytime and anywhere.
Zhou hosted his first personal exhibition at the Shanghai Agriculture Exhibition Center in 1986. The 100 exquisite oil painting works on display made him a focus of the art circle at that time, although he never quit his ever-changing day job.
He worked as a bus conductor, graphic designer for Shanghai Agricultural Exhibition Center, a newspaper and magazine reporter and an art design director for a government department.
In 1988, Zhou quit his stable job at Shanghai Agricultural Exhibition Center and went to Japan. While trying to find a job, he painted a few works about Dunhuang to kill time. These oil paintings surprisingly brought him fame and fortune in Japan too.
The Daily Yomiuri newspaper wrote an article on him and Japanese TV stations even organized a tour exhibition for him.
He was deeply impressed by a talk with a famous Japanese artist and scholar Hirayama Ikuo, who introduced him to the concept of cultural protection through art and made Zhou aware of his social responsibility as an artist.
Later, Zhou encouraged his son to read Chinese classics on history and art mainly out of his respect and admiration for the Japanese painter's rich knowledge.
In 1989 Zhou gave up his enviable life in Japan and returned to Shanghai.
During the following 10 years, he was frequently invited to exhibit his works at national and international art exhibitions.
But after 2000, he started keeping a low profile and declined many exhibition invitations. Also to many people's surprise, he seldom sold his paintings. Some friends asked him why he didn't sell his paintings at a good price to capitalize on his fame. Zhou replied honestly that his paintings would only be sold to those who really understood and appreciated them.
Zhou's 300 or so works created over the past 30 years are preserved at his private studio.
"If I can't find the right buyers for these paintings, I may donate them," he says.
Today Zhou works as creative director for several fashion and art magazines and is the art designer for Shanghai Metropolitan Group. But he remains a family-oriented person.
The artist, who is now quite famous in the fields of painting and writing, seldom talks about of himself, as for his son Zhou Shiyuan, he immediately becomes quite talkative and feels most proud of the achievements he makes as a fine art photographer.
The photos the young man takes feature even a stronger visual impact and abstract flavor than an oil painting and people are likely to associate his talent with his father.
But Zhou gave his son enough freedom to study. He encouraged Zhou Shiyuan to indulge himself in subjects he was truly interested and even sent his son to Australia at the age of 16.
Zhou's affinity for oil painting was not handed down from his elders, but was the product of loneliness, the 55-year-old wrote in his autobiography "My Painting Stories."
"I fell in love with painting largely because I didn't have many companions in my childhood," Zhou says. "In the beginning it was a kind of graffiti just to entertain myself."
Although many of his paintings received recognition and praise from teachers at school, he didn't expect that a childhood hobby would develop into a life-long career.
At that time he enjoyed imitating the slogans and paintings he saw and designing illustrations for blackboard newspaper.
In 1977, Zhou was admitted to the fine arts department of the Shanghai Theater Academy. That was the beginning of his road to becoming a successful professional oil painter.
The Jiading District Post Office used to have a large oil painting "The Great Wall" on the wall of its lobby. The painting came from Zhou's first batch of works which were publicly exhibited in Jiading.
Back-to-nature style
Today Jiading also has a set of figure sculptures in front of the Jiading Cinema and a Confucius statue in the Confucius Temple initiated by Zhou who invited celebrated artists of the city to help make the art.
"My paintings reflect a sentimental mood for life and the irreversible law of nature," says Zhou.
Nature and people are the common subjects of Zhou's paintings. His "ladies" series are inspired by the ancient Dunhuang grotto frescoes while his "village" series depict the relationship between human and nature.
All these works not only convey a mood of solitude and detachment, but also show respect for the amazing spirit of nature and its indomitable vitality. That is also Zhou's reflection and thoughts about modern society.
"A good painting is always thought-provoking," he adds. As an artist, his creation style and interest on painting originates from his rich life experience. Zhou says that inspiration is not a must for his creation as he can paint anytime and anywhere.
Zhou hosted his first personal exhibition at the Shanghai Agriculture Exhibition Center in 1986. The 100 exquisite oil painting works on display made him a focus of the art circle at that time, although he never quit his ever-changing day job.
He worked as a bus conductor, graphic designer for Shanghai Agricultural Exhibition Center, a newspaper and magazine reporter and an art design director for a government department.
In 1988, Zhou quit his stable job at Shanghai Agricultural Exhibition Center and went to Japan. While trying to find a job, he painted a few works about Dunhuang to kill time. These oil paintings surprisingly brought him fame and fortune in Japan too.
The Daily Yomiuri newspaper wrote an article on him and Japanese TV stations even organized a tour exhibition for him.
He was deeply impressed by a talk with a famous Japanese artist and scholar Hirayama Ikuo, who introduced him to the concept of cultural protection through art and made Zhou aware of his social responsibility as an artist.
Later, Zhou encouraged his son to read Chinese classics on history and art mainly out of his respect and admiration for the Japanese painter's rich knowledge.
In 1989 Zhou gave up his enviable life in Japan and returned to Shanghai.
During the following 10 years, he was frequently invited to exhibit his works at national and international art exhibitions.
But after 2000, he started keeping a low profile and declined many exhibition invitations. Also to many people's surprise, he seldom sold his paintings. Some friends asked him why he didn't sell his paintings at a good price to capitalize on his fame. Zhou replied honestly that his paintings would only be sold to those who really understood and appreciated them.
Zhou's 300 or so works created over the past 30 years are preserved at his private studio.
"If I can't find the right buyers for these paintings, I may donate them," he says.
Today Zhou works as creative director for several fashion and art magazines and is the art designer for Shanghai Metropolitan Group. But he remains a family-oriented person.
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