Mortal Beings & Little Things – Zuoxiao Zuzhou’s Smalll Paintings
By Du Xiyun
Art is a form of self-expression. Every human being would experience life & express thoughts and feelings by instinct. Artistic expression wasn’t only for artists until a cer-tain group of people was deemed as artists. Those who are not hedged in with rules and regulation for artists can express their ideas and life experience freely. That’s ex-actly what art is. Art is just one of the roads to freedom. What counts more is that each individual and his or her unique and vivid way of living should be respected and encouraged.
Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou is deemed as artists by many people as he focuses on living condi-tions and is devoted to free expression. He missed academic art education at a young age, which also protects his natural instincts for art from being undermined. Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou always confronts his true emotions. Thus, instead of putting on air, he is al-ways blunt and expressing his true feelings. Sneering at others as well as self-deprecation is his thing. Tough sometimes life is filled with untold suffering, he can still find his own happiness. His braveness and pursuit of freedom make it possible for him to express his thoughts or feelings in millions of ways.
Initially, Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou was into writing. Then he started singing regardless of the quality of his voice as he found out that music was purer poetry than a poem in words. Instead of contemporary art, he loves freedom and telling truths. However, as con-temporary art focuses on truth and freedom, many treat Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou as a con-temporary artist. This is similar to what he describes in his song BEING TREATED UNJUSTLY. “You’ve started taking actions to strive for freedom. Being unrestrained is freedom. Freedom is the basic rights of human beings. However, human rights are highly related to politics. Comrade! There you are, on the stage of politics, stilling wondering how you got there.”
Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou has never said that he was a contemporary artist and kept telling others that he was just playing around. Recently, he created some paintings. Com-pared with professional painters’ works, these are way crazier. He has all these images that show his life experience in his mind. Images, colors, brushwork and collage of his paintings are for sure amateur. But he doesn’t care about his painting skills and just freely paint his love and hate. If one knows about Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou’s paintings, he wouldn’t be surprised by the way he paints. It seems that all his paintings are not connected and his language of painting is constantly changing; however, each painting of his is a call for individuality, freedom and equality. Also, his paintings show the status quo of individuality, freedom as well as equality. China now has its own hidden problems, which make people sad. But his particular sense of humor added complexi-ty and meanings to the sadness. Without grand cultural and historical elements, Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou’s paintings are fun and show his true feelings. Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou teas-es those who put themselves on air with his paintings. Meanwhile, his paintings have the magic power to stir up your feelings and urge to survive.
An artist is first a human being. Human beings are not complicated. It is delusive cul-ture that makes them complicated. Ego and stupid deceitfulness make one forget or deliberately deny his or her own instincts. Zuo Xiao Zhu Zou, an ordinary man ex-poses human nature & instincts with his paintings. Also, his paintings are showing visitors in the maze of art that everyone can draw & it’s one’s basic emotions that drive him or her to draw. And the evaluation criterion of all paintings shall be the basic emotions of every human being.
