Beijing Exhibitions>> Zhu Ming Solo Exhibition

Zhu Ming is one the most important performance artists of the avant-garde.  From his first appearance in the seminal group work by Beijing East Village artists, “To Add a Meter to an Anonymous Mountain,” Zhu Ming has created performance works that leave an indelible impression upon the viewer and have left a deep impression upon the landscape of Chinese contemporary art.  Whether seen in the flesh or in photographs, Zhu Ming’s performances, through his raw display of his naked body, are controversial works that call attention to the vulnerability and aloneness of all humankind. During the first decade of his performances, his works were banned from public display in Mainland China because it was believed that Zhu Ming’s works were polluting to the general public.  As a result, the majority of his performances from the Bubble and Luminescent Man series were performed abroad. 

The Bubble series, a performance series that was initiated in 1997 and makes use of specially designed plastic bubbles, discusses the transience of life and the endless cycle of life and death.  These same themes were also an inherent aspect of Zhu Ming’s more recent works, Luminescent Man, in which the artist paints his body with toxic fluorescent powder and performs in a darkened room.  The images from these performances alternately show the artist curled in foetal position, as a many-armed Bodhisattva and as a single head floating in a black abyss.  Regardless of medium, Zhu Ming’s works often place enormous stress on the artist’s body and, through these external, physical struggles, the artist finds internal, spiritual peace in the process of performance.      

Chinese Contemporary is giving Zhu Ming his first solo exhibition since 1993.  A catalog of the artist’s work has been published for this exhibition. Zhu Ming’s Solo Exhibition will show photographs from the artist’s performances from 1993 – 2006 and provides a unique opportunity to view a comprehensive body of work from one of China’s leading experimental artists.