(b Miaoli, Taiwan, 20 Jan 1938). Chinese sculptor and painter. Trained as a wood-carver in the folk tradition of religious and historical images, Chu acquired a technical proficiency unmatched by the average art-school graduate. The key figure in his transition from craftsman to artist was the eminent sculptor Yang Ying-feng (b 1906), who was Chu's teacher from 1968 to 1976. Yang nurtured Chu's talent for wood-carving and showed him how to simplify his forms and to intensify spiritual expression. Chu reached artistic maturity with his meditative series of taiji (shadow-boxing) figures dating from the mid-1970s onwards. His semi-abstract forms, their expressiveness heightened by the spontaneous wielding of the carving knife and the natural grains of the wood, capture the essential strength and movement of taiji. In his subsequent Living World series Chu explored the hustle and bustle of human existence. He also experimented with materials other than wood, including bronze, ceramics and Styrofoam. Chu Ming rose to prominence at the height of the Native Soil (Xiangtu) movement, the adherents of which searched for cultural roots in the indigenous tradition. His first one-man show at the National Museum of History, Taipei, in 1976 brought him international renown and exhibitions in Asia (e.g. Hong Kong, A. Cent., 1980; Hong Kong, Hanart Gal., 1992; Hakone-machi, Hakone Open Air Mus., 1995), Europe (e.g. Dunkirk, Mus. A. Contemp., 1991; and London, S. Bank Cent., 1991) and North America (e.g. New York, Phyllis Kline Gal., 1989), which further enhanced his reputation as an artist who had achieved a personal expression that was unmistakably Chinese and yet comprehensible to a lay audience. In 1991 some of his larger taiji figures were displayed at the South Bank Centre, London. His powerful and expressive style created a milestone in modern Chinese sculpture.
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