Zhou Shichao, with his control over density and sparseness, endows the picture with vivid vitality
By Zhu Changyuan
Zhou Shichao, I know this name, and it's in France. Even though some foreign colleagues recommended him to me, I still hadn't paid attention to him before, let alone seen his paintings. This time, viewing the paintings without knowing the painter himself or his background, and discussing the paintings based on the paintings, can reduce the personal emotions mixed between people and enable a relatively objective judgment of the artistic value of a painter and his works.
Judging merely from his paintings, Zhou Shichao should be considered a professional with rich experience. It can even be concluded that he has a certain depth of understanding of art and is relatively familiar with the history of world art. He is also a painter who, in the creative process, went through the figurative and then developed to the integration of the figurative and the abstract. Otherwise, when he controlled the density of the picture, he could not have such a free and easy state of control, could not have endowed the picture with such a reserved yet vivid vitality, and could not have made the work contain such rich contents of nature and life, environment and ecology.
When I got home, I recalled that when my foreign colleagues recommended Zhou Shichao to me, they particularly mentioned that Claude Dallas, a renowned French publisher and art critic, had traveled all the way to China to learn about, study and interview Zhou Shichao, and then specially wrote a biography of Zhou Shichao's art. A Chinese painter could fascinate and arouse the curiosity of a well-known French art critic, who even wrote books about him. It was only when I saw some of Zhou Shichao's paintings that I suddenly understood.
Zhou Shichao's paintings are not sentimental; they are filled with thoughts and ideas. Through the tension of light and color, lines and composition, and the variations in depth, density, dryness and wetness, thickness and thinness, as well as the mutual collision and integration of cool and warm colors, he boldly broke through the constraints of objects and reached a new realm of artistic creation. Moreover, it is very easy for people to be filled with boundless imagination for his paintings, which is rather commendable.
"Good-looking" is a kind of intuition and impression that most non-professionals have when looking at paintings. At the same time, some people who understand painting can find their own understanding, draw their own insights and heal their souls from the gentle and delicate color blocks in Zhou Shichao's paintings.
It is said that nowadays many people like Zhou Shichao's paintings. I don't know if these collectors like its colors? Or do you still like its connotation? At least for collectors in Europe and America, especially those in France, they should have found the mysterious charm of Eastern culture and art in Zhou Shichao's paintings. As a result, some people seek their favorite works just by looking at art albums, and even spare no expense to get them from collectors. I think this is really unnecessary. These days, I have been reflecting on the paintings created by Zhou Shichao over the years. My intuitive feeling is that he has been constantly denying himself and constantly breaking through himself. His paintings have their own style in each era, among which there are many outstanding masterpieces and some works that can stand the test of time.
From March 1st to March 30th, 2025, the Qingdao Art Museum will host the solo exhibition "Secret Realm | Zhou Shichao". What kind of feeling do you have about Zhou Shichao's paintings? You might as well choose an appropriate time to visit the exhibition. (End）
Zhu Changyuan
