2018 Ju Ming’s Latest Exhibition Living World Series - Ballet

The highlights of Ju Ming’s Living World Series extend from explorations of materials to the rich tapestry of life interwoven in the dynamics of oeuvres, living world and contemporary circumstances. In this brand new set of works Living World Series – Ballet, Ju Ming combines the feminine postures represented in Living World Series – Skirt Story with the innovative explorations of the use of stainless steel developed in Living World Series – Swimming and the beauty and power of the ballet sculptures in bronze created from the sponge casting process. The artist does not confine himself to his own past achievements; instead, he is able to conjure up again, from the living world inspirations, one singular dancer after another because every fouetté, pirouette or grand jeté must be a posture of utmost beauty emerging from his chisel. 

　　When the grace of ballet is embodied in a posture, the body of the dancer must turn itself into a site for unfolding a spatial dimension of utmost beauty. Choreography is a series of spatial interpretation punctuated with body movements while sculpture is also a series of spatial interpretation emerging from explorations of different materials. Both choreography and sculpture demand a ceaseless process of refinement from the body and spirit of the artist in order to ascend to the superb level of art. Ju Ming’s new collection blends sculpture with ballet, transforming stainless steel into sculptural creations of the dancer’s moving body: every single movement of all the sculptural dancers unfolds not only in a continuous flow of force but also in the dynamics of flexibility and firmness. 

　　Made of repeatedly polished stainless steel and covered with ballet attire, the dancers in Living World Series – Ballet shine with skin-like luminosity; their feet wrapped in white ballet shoes stand on tiptoe, forcefully maintaining the balance of body position. In the constant change of music, rhythm and mise en scène, the dancers also need to flow with gravitational force. It is in this continuous flow of change that the dancers bring into existence one movement after another in a swift manner. Such a process of velocity is also demonstrated in every chisel mark by Ju Ming and could be found in his renowned Taichi Series, in which the artist masterly captures every movement in its natural flow instead of confining himself to molding certain set of moves into his works. Sculpted in the same masterly style, Living World Series – Ballet is endowed with a distinguished nature: every sculpture in this collection is an independent piece of art, embodying all the thoughts and emotions of these dancers. There is no dance notation in Ju Ming’s ballet works because the effortless velocity of the movements and their standstill all crystallize in the artist’s chisel mark. There is no story to be told. Only the spirit of the dancers remains with the sculptures, unfolding a spatial dimension of their own elegance.