Zhu Zhiwei’s paintings dwell on the incredible scale of China’s industrialization, and the relationship between modern city-dwellers and the man-made environment that they inhabit. In Paradise—Chasing the Wind, factories obscure the horizon. The elongated format and multiple, skewed perspectives of create an intentionally disorienting, fantastical setting. The large central tower seems to be falling apart while it is swarmed by Zhu’s distinctive pink figures. Wearing sunglasses, they climb, dangle and perch on the tower’s nonsensical railings and ledges, creating the impression of an industrial playground. A few characters appear in heroic poses - climbing, carrying objects or helping each other scale the structure. Some sit idly, while others busy themselves pulling pieces off the tower or casting debris downwards. The painting’s lone woman, wearing a qipao (a traditional Chinese dress), dangles her heels, while two men engage in a fistfight down below. On the higher platforms several people. including a man in a red cape, look off into the distance. All appear to be oblivious to rickety state of the tower.

Amidst this flurry of activity, the tower’s purpose remains unclear; the top disappears into a dark, hazy cloud of smoke that drifts across the upper left-hand corner of the composition. The painting’s low vantage point and the strong diagonal lines formed by the tubes on either side of the tower create a disorienting perspective. Viewing the tower from its base, we too can contemplate climbing its dislocated staircases.

A word from The Artist

Industrialization is the main theme of my work; the background of which is like a jigsaw puzzle - an arrangement comprising all sorts of elements.

I am interested in the people’s lifestyle and their feelings of nostalgia in the midst of large-scale industrialized production. Images of child-like figures living an ordinary life in giant factories epitomize the incongruities and absurdities of contemporary life amidst the high-speed development of China’s cities. The factories that we build with our own knowledge and sweat propel our economic progress, but In front of these factories, individual people appear insignificant and powerless. Each viewer brings his own complex associations and recollections into the world that I have constructed.

My works often contain simultaneously real and imaginary industrial elements, as well as rich scenes of everyday life. All of these the thoughts and images originate from my own ordinary life. Anxiety and uneasiness, absurdity and panic, confusion and grievance, hope and despair can all be found in my works.

With steel and concrete structures as homes, in an increasingly industrialized landscape, the whole world has become distorted beyond recognition.