Haunted by little green men
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200805/20080522/article_360352_1.htm
By Wang Jie 2008-5-22
ARTIST Zhou Wenfu follows his dreams by painting them, fantastic and unsettling images that seem to be space aliens, exotic extraterrestrials and a giant eye from a nightmare, writes Wang Jie.
Artist Zhou Wenfu is haunted by dreams of extraterrestrials - and has been - for almost 20 years.
"But I didn't dare paint them on canvas at the time because I knew that many people would treat me as a freak," says the former cook and current educator who set up a well-known center to foster children's creativity.
But now UFOs and extraterrestrials are widely discussed. The time is right and Zhou finally painted his dreams, one featuring bizarre shapes and a huge eye.
Eighty canvases now are exhibited in a park on Zunyi Road. The minimally decorated two-story 3,000-square-meter venue is perfect for the otherworldly images.
For years, Zhou felt he had no choice but to hide these peculiar images in his heart; they have never faded. The dreams continue.
Before he found art, Zhou was a cook for 11 years.
"My best dish was fried shrimps and it even won one of the top prizes in a local cooking competition," he says.
But working every day beside a hot wok and stir-frying meat and fish was draining his creative energy. So after 11 years in the kitchen, Zhou decided to follow his dreams, however weird, and listen to the "call in his heart" - art.
"I can sacrifice everything in my life," he says. "I don't care about material things, what I care about the most is really and truly reflecting my passion in art."
Not many artists would undertake such a personal, enigmatic subject - dreams of extraterrestrials. Zhou concedes that many locals find the paintings inaccessible.
"I have already made my compromise," he says with a sigh. "As I am now painting something back in my dreams from the 1980s, maybe it is my own tragedy that I am always ahead of the times."
One canvas features a huge eye, maybe that of an ET staring at you from a cluster of irregular geometric shapes. The "eye" immediately rivets the viewer, though whether it's the eye of an alien, a god, the artist or even the viewer isn't clear.
Some works are evocative of Picasso's cubist works, and he suggests a soul-link. "I believe there is a kind of understanding and communication between two souls, whether they are in the same time and space or not."
Zhou is also a well-known educator. In the 1990s, he set up the city's first children's artistic imagination center.
"Today, all kinds of examinations and tests have smothered the imagination of children in China. I hate to see that every child is trained almost the same."
He wants his center to be a place where children can play freely and happily without restrictions, rules and regulations.
Whether painting his dreams or running his center for free spirits, Zhou is not driven by profit.
"My family complains a lot, saying most of my time and energy are wasted, at least in their eyes," he says. "Sometimes I am a bit guilty about my son, as I could have offered him a better material life. I have a clear understanding of what kind of art sells in this market, but I just can't convince myself to produce it."
Zhou has undertaken a lonely path in the art world, pursuing his dreams by painting them.
"I am proud of my productions," he says. "Once you cast off those commercial shackles, you can fully take part in a pure art world, which is the most luxurious thing in this world."
When about his new dreams, Zhou chuckles.
"I often don't get a good night's sleep, perhaps that's why I look so emaciated," he says. "Yes, I have new dreams, but I won't tell you right now. It's a secret that might be revealed a decade later."
Date: through May 28, 10am-8:30pm
Address: 101 Zunyi Rd
Tel: 6238-3412
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