Additional Images

Provenance:

Hanart 2 Gallery, Hong Kong. Acquired by the present owner in 1990.

Property of a Canadian banker, who lived and purchased in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Tokyo in the 1980s and 90s.

Note:

Ju Ming was born in Miaoli, Taiwan, in 1938. At 15 years of age, he began his training as a wood carver and painting apprentice. Roughly a decade after opening his own studio in 1959, he established his reputation in Taiwan with the introduction of his ‘Taichi series’, a name for which is synonymous with his own. In 1983, his success was further enhanced in New York and the Western hemisphere when he developed his ‘Living World’ series. Ju Ming held various exhibitions in Hong Kong, working closely with Hanart Gallery, who became the major exhibitor of his work in the 1980s and ‘90s. Today, many of his installations can be found in major metropolitan spaces throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In Canada, Vancouver and Montreal both boast permanent installations of his monumental ‘Taichi’ figures.

When Ju Ming took up the martial art of Taichi in his young adulthood, it immediately resonated with his artwork. His strong fundamentals of woodwork training informed the abstract and indistinct forms found in his characteristic style of sculpture. In turn, his style communicated readily with the fluid, shifting forces of Taichi movement and philosophy, and the ebb and flow of influence and absorption. Using this dialogue, Ju Ming established himself as a leading force in the world of contemporary Asian sculpture, a movement that is characterized by the fusion of traditional culture and modern civilization.

With the right leg planted, the unrestricted force is partially collected in the twisted waist, the rest manifesting itself in a single strike that travels through to the tip of the left leg. Although the ferocity of the movement is predominates the sculpture, nonetheless there remains a strong sense of balance and ease. This series is unique in its pseudo-eroded patination, contrary to the smooth polished brown of his conventional bronze casts, demonstrating subtle, attractive streaks of lustrous finish subdued by large, multicoloured patches of oxidation.

Edition 4/20 of ‘Swing Kick’ was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong - Chinese 20th Century Art, November 25, 2007, lot 243.
Edition 18/20 sold at Christie’s Hong Kong - Chinese 20th Century Art, November 30, 2009, lot 1302.
Edition 15/20 sold at Christie’s Hong Kong - Asian 20th Century Art, May 27, 2012, lot 2139.

Accompanied by original Hanart 2 Gallery receipt; available upon request.

Proceeds to benefit the Ontario Arts Foundation.