1988
Bronze, edition of 6
356 x 180 x 365.5 cm
Signed Ju-Ming in Chinese and numbered, dated 1988
Estimate TWD 30,000,000-38,000,000
USD 1,071,400-1,357,100
HKD 0-0
Hammer Price TWD 34,080,000
USD 1,226,782
HKD 9,737,143
With a certificate of authenticity issued by the Non-profit Organization of Ju Ming Culture and Education Foundation
Provenance：
Illustrated：
Exhibition：Preparation for Underarm Strike was on display National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan from June 2009 until April 2020. "Selected Exhibition” Taichi Square, JU Ming Museum, New Taipei City Taiwan, Permanent exhibition (different edition exhibited)
Exposition：
“The accomplishments of Ju Ming exceed beyond the beauty and power portrayed by his work. More importantly, in comparison to his contemporary peers, he is connotative of his own cultural traditions, and creates a naturalistic language that can be regarded to be inevitable…” – Michael Sullivan
Created in the 1980s, Preparation for Underarm Strike is part of Ju Ming’s Taichi Series. With a semi-figurative form, it captures the harmonious rhythm flowing between humanity and nature. Exuding from its lofty stature is grandeur and magnificence, a stately presence between heaven and earth that is dignified and solemn. Ju Ming has a humanistic touch that perfectly captures the deliberate and unhurried momentum of tai chi. Composed, relaxed and subdued, the energy flows in a non-stop cycle into the consummate depiction of profound emotional and spiritual depth in the Daoist and Chinese traditions. Growing up around artisans, the environment paved the way for his path towards art.
Ju studied after Lee Chin-Chuan as a young disciple. Most of his works from this period are sculptures of animals, insects, statutes of deities as well as figures from history or folklores. In the beginning of his career, he would take photos of the subjects he intended to portray, including an ox that he was trying to carve out. His acute observation and empathy propelled him into the sculptor he was to become, and kindled the beginning of the Nativist Series. In the 1960s, under Yuyu Yang’s mentorship, a transformation started. Ju’s style went from one that is meticulously faithful to the form to a departure from the figurative.
It was Yang who gave him the name, “Ju Ming.” “I want the world to remember his name,” Yang said. This name comes with a profound aspiration.
Profound and Grounded Sentiment for Life
As Ju progressed in life and career, he shifted from the mentality of “taking” to “letting go” and “leaving behind.” Instead of fixating on fine-tuning the outer form, he relentlessly stripped away all that is unnecessary with rapid knife work, from which, the ultimate form emerged. Like the ax-stroke texturing technique in traditional landscape painting, he captures not what is visible, but what is deep within. In the 1970s, Ju was regarded as the beau ideal of nativist art in Taiwan.
To him, this is a turning point, a quantum leap in his career. It was also during this time that he received a slew of recognitions, among which are Sculpture Award from Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition, Chinese Literary Award from Chinese Artists’ and Writers’ Association, Ten Outstanding Young Persons from Taiwan Junior Chamber and National Awards for Arts from National Culture and Arts Foundation. He also held solo exhibitions at Tokyo Central Art Museum and Nara Prefectural Cultural Hall.
As Ju advanced in career, Yang encouraged him to practice tai chi to improve physical health. Taichi turned out to be the enlightenment in Ju’s life, illuminating for him the root of one’s physical, mental and energic being, as well as ways to balance them. He incorporated all that into his art. He said, “Tai chi was created in ancient China to enhance health. As far as I know, it best exemplifies the unification of human and nature. First of all, it involves the use of one’s body, limbs, facial features, blood and breath, to mimic natural phenomenon. ‘Cloud Hands’, for instance, mimics the shifting forms of clouds in the sky, which is essentially aerodynamics. Also, ‘Lotus Kick’ mimics a blooming lotus. Have you ever seen the lotus flower swaying in the wind? It stands tall atop the leaves, indifferent and dignified, free and fearless. However, it sustains a humble and modest presence in this living world, exchanging countless interactions and admirations with natural elements, like the spirit, sun, moon, star, wind and water. I find tai chi to be the most perceptible and intimate connection between humans and nature. It is human-centric. While it is meant to explore nature, it ultimately loops back to humans. My art is precisely a pursuit of natural rhythms founded on this human-centric approach. Therefore, I find the essence of tai chi and the spirit of my art to be one and the same.”
All tai chi movements can be derived out of Preparation for Underarm Strike. As the mnemonic for tai chi goes, “Preparation for underarm strike evolves into endless variations.” What appears rudimentary is actually the very cornerstone of this martial art. After years of practice, the core of tai chi has crystalized in Ju’s mind. Embedded within is the esoteric wisdom connotative of Chinese culture and spirit that has withstood the test of time. Lying behind each movement, between each exchange of the still and the dynamic energy is a tribute to the root of one’s culture and background. Regardless of the viewing angle, immense tension and dramatic presence emerge out of the sheer magnitude of Preparation for Underarm Strike, which takes viewers into a realm composed of the synergistic void and solid that is tai chi. This piece, however, is also quite approachable, for it is grounded upon a profound humanistic sentiment, thus awakening the longing for interaction for the viewers.
Tranquility Distilled out of Dissonance
Ju moved to New York in the 1980s. The move expanded his horizon into global scale. Inspired by Pop Art, he realized that art is life, and life is also art. The epiphany gave way to his Living World Series. At this time, Ju was already a famed artist with international reputation. His works can be spotted throughout Taiwan; his exhibitions throughout the world in cities such as New York, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Bangkok. Awards received during this period include the Arts and Culture Prize of the 18th Fukuoka Prize, Asia Arts Game Changer Awards, the 1st New Taipei City Cultural Contribution Award and Award of Life Achievement in the 16th Global Views Leaders Forum. On top of all this, after 12 years of careful planning, Juming Museum inaugurated on September 19th, 1999.
The Nativist, Taichi and Living World Series have been Ju’s major focus. Regardless of the title, all three represent a kind yet determined projection of introspection onto the people and nature on this land. He said, “My thoughts and my wisdom often came upon me while gazing at nature.” To him, human beings are an inseparable part of nature. When humans resort to nature’s embrace, chaos shall elucidate; enlightenment shall manifest upon quiet observation of all existence; the wisdom of this living world shall illuminate through utter stillness.
Zhang Songren commented, “Perhaps, that compelling presence in Ju Ming’s work is the energy that lies between heaven and earth, and Ju Ming simply borrowed it in his art.”
The term, “tai chi,” first appeared in the collection of commentaries to Book of Changes, “In change there is tai chi (the supreme polarity). It gives rise to the two modes (yin and yang); the two modes give rise to the four forms; the four forms give rise to the eight trigrams.” In general, “tai chi” refers to the most primordial mode of being and order of the universe, where all was still in a state of chaos, and yin and yang were still as one. It was then the cosmos took shape. What the Taichi Series represents is the metaphysical energy and life, the amorphous essence of Eastern spirit. Like the evolvement of tai chi, where the energy flows without impediment regardless of changes in the outer form, while Ju’s Taichi Series evolves from scales small to large; from wood to bronze sculpture, and to installation; the spirit remains constant. It is the embodiment of heaven and human as one; object and self as one, pulsating in the eternal rhythm of space and time.
Preparation for Underarm Strike retains the cuts left on the original wood grain made before it was cast in bronze. The texture, like storytellers, narrates the heaviness of history. Ju’s decisive knife work create cuts on the bronze surface that are smooth and organic. The striking stature, which is shaped into a human form, is composed of geometric blocks. The axing and sawing reveal layers of wood grain, whose linear movement is interwoven with the geometric dimension, further accentuating the eloquent tempo created by the cuts. The hands are spread wide; left knee slightly bent; right foot lifted in preparation. A touch of forward leaning balances the weightiness of bronze, thus generating an energy flow that is gentle and harmonious. The cuts around the collar are abrupt and deep, demonstrating dynamic beauty where the rigid and the supple coexist; ying and yang conjoin. Painter Wucius Wang expressed this sentiment, “Chinese sculpture always seems to be weak when it comes to ‘volume.’ However, Ju Ming is a rare exception. His apparent accentuation of ‘volume’ substantially surpassed other Chinese sculptors, who approach sculpture with ‘lines.’''
In a world congested with information, Ju Ming transformed the complex into simplistic. With masterful perfection, he materialized meditative countenance in his art, which gently exudes profound stillness, as though one has stepped into a vast and seclusive spiritual realm where all that is within dissipates with each inhale and exhale, and all worries and distractions are left behind. As one arrives at the ultimate state of tai chi, all techniques, movements and forms are let go. What Ju accomplished for this modern world is personifying the ancient wisdom of Laozi and Zhuangzi by concealing greatness within ineptitude. As stated in the Diamond Sutra, “If all forms are perceived as unreal, the Tathagata will be clearly perceived.” Through art, Ju has constructed a magnificent and profound spiritual realm for this world.
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