Zheng Zaidong(b.1953)
Bamboo in the Winter
ink and colour on paper, hanging scroll
executed in 2004
174x94 cm
(68 1/2 x 37 in)

Zheng Zaidong was an expressionist and surrealist painter in his early years. As time goes by, he realized that his lifestyle and his art style echo with the peaceful state of the pastoral landscape in Chinese art. He moved to Shanghai in late 1990s. Influenced by the literati sentiment along the region, he began to adopt a huge amount of Chinese classical literature such as Zen Buddhism documentations and scholar anecdotes and inscribe poetry in his works. These works often express his personal feelings and circumstances. Zheng’s works have unique hidden aesthetics. As he said, “my works are not exactly traditional Chinese scholar paintings; I only quoted their verse, title or meaning. It is a conflict between the inner voice of a modernist as well as the subconscious emptiness. I present them all in my paintings”. His works are not regarded as beautiful by general cognition. Mostly desolate, lonely, helpless and melancholy, his works describe the sorrow and sad emotion of the poet. Chinese literati always project emotions into the scene to trigger imagination and pondering. Zheng’s artworks are poetic and when we will discover a lingering charm when we appreciate them.