Taichi Series - Shadow Boxing
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1994 Bronze, edition no. 9/20 23(L) x 16(W) x 30(H) cm (left) Engraved JU Ming in Chinese, numbered 9/20 and dated '94 (both) |
Estimate
480,000 - 650,000 1,820,000 - 2,470,000 63,200 - 85,500
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Sold Price
660,000 2,444,444 84,833
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Ju Ming's famous sculptures, "Taichi Series", have made him an esteemed carving master worldwide. As he performed with knife and ax chopping and chiseling giant pieces of wood, he creates a visualized and artistic of Taichi which embodies a chinese philosophiced outlook on life. these pieces belong to the later stage of Ju Ming's "Taichi Series" of single and double figures.
In this work, "Taichi Series - Shadow Boxing", one figure is poised in a forward lunge, making an attack, while the other poses in a defensive position that is still, yet suggests motion. The continuity of Yin and Yang is embodied in these postures of attack and defense, forward and backward motion. In his creations, Ju Ming has fully captured the underlying essence of Taichi. As the renowned art historian Michael Sullivan said: "In his Taichi Series, this conflict of forces is explicit, in the dualism of the figures who thrust and retreat, give and take, in a dynamic relationship with one another. An invisible electric current seems to flow between them."
Mastering the spirit of Taichi and the concept of forms, Ju Ming's creations grew increasingly confident and refined, reaching a realm where he "carves at will", oblivious of himself. With a few clean marks of chopping, peeling and splitting, the sense of movement and weight is expressed. In this lot, the Taichi sparring represents two fighting forms possessing both calmness and dynamism.