Zhi Lin
Encyclopedia
Zhi Lin is a Chinese 2D artist. Lin’s experience with China’s Cultural Revolution
gave him an interest in political art. He lived in a Chinese town torn by civil strife. Lin states that he did not originally want his work political, and instead his work transformed after the Tiananmen Square massacre. As Lin said "I tried to find art for art's sake and to stay away from the intervention of the communist government. Society should leave us alone: that was the argument."
, China
.
Zhi Lin’s career
as an artist
began in the China National Academy of Fine arts where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts
in traditional Western and traditional Chinese painting. In 1987, Lin attended the Slade School of Fine Art at University College, London where he later achieved his Master of Fine Arts
.
and ribbon
, each with an interpretation modern day executions: Flaying, Starvation, Decapitation, Drawing and Quartering, and the Firing Squad. Lin incorporates Chinese officials publicly torturing/killing their victims in a crowded gathering with astounding detail and accuracy.
Five Capital Punishments in China, was not only skillfully executed, but also painstakingly arranged. Costumes were purchased via online stores as well as Chinese markets. He first made thumbnail
sketches of all the different arrangements he envisioned for the punishments. After selecting which arrangement he felt strongest, Lin sketched a detailed drawing
of the scene on paper. Each 12 x 7 foot painting was then completed by applying watercolor paint to the mixed media projects, except for the Drawing and Quartering which was solely charcoal. Finally, each work was screen printed on the large Chinese scrolls.
. The viewer hears train whistles blowing and sees the flag near the train station shake in the wind. This incorporation of movement suggests that the movie projection of the two trains is a living embodiment of the Transcontinental.
Conversely, Lin’s backdrop in Names of the Unremembered: Transcontinental is a colorless painting of a rocky foreground, the Transcontinental Railroad
tracks, and the desert
background. On the hundreds of rocks that precede the tracks, Lin painted a Chinese immigrant worker’s name in red. Red, a symbol of blood, suggests that the lives of the workers were sacrificed in making the Transcontinental Railroad. The stones and the landscape are white
, alluding to the desert scene as a white Chinese funeral
. The somber painting
is meant to offset the moving train projection and create a feeling of death
and mourning
.
, in Seattle, Washington.
Zhi Lin is represented by Koplin Del Rio, Culver City, California
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
gave him an interest in political art. He lived in a Chinese town torn by civil strife. Lin states that he did not originally want his work political, and instead his work transformed after the Tiananmen Square massacre. As Lin said "I tried to find art for art's sake and to stay away from the intervention of the communist government. Society should leave us alone: that was the argument."
Early life and education
Zhi Lin was born in NanjingNanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Zhi Lin’s career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
as an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
began in the China National Academy of Fine arts where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in traditional Western and traditional Chinese painting. In 1987, Lin attended the Slade School of Fine Art at University College, London where he later achieved his Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
.
Five Capital Punishments in China (2003)
Lin's most political and dramatic piece, Five Capital Punishments in China, reflects a dramatized interpretation of Chinese brutality during the Tiananmen Square massacre. The work features five 12 x 7 foot paintings on canvasCanvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
and ribbon
Ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons, most commonly silk, are often used in connection with clothing, but are also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolic purposes...
, each with an interpretation modern day executions: Flaying, Starvation, Decapitation, Drawing and Quartering, and the Firing Squad. Lin incorporates Chinese officials publicly torturing/killing their victims in a crowded gathering with astounding detail and accuracy.
Five Capital Punishments in China, was not only skillfully executed, but also painstakingly arranged. Costumes were purchased via online stores as well as Chinese markets. He first made thumbnail
Thumbnail
Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words...
sketches of all the different arrangements he envisioned for the punishments. After selecting which arrangement he felt strongest, Lin sketched a detailed drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
of the scene on paper. Each 12 x 7 foot painting was then completed by applying watercolor paint to the mixed media projects, except for the Drawing and Quartering which was solely charcoal. Finally, each work was screen printed on the large Chinese scrolls.
Names of the Unremembered: Transcontinental (2009)
A more recent work by Zhi Lin, Names of the Unremembered: Transcontinental, focuses on 19th racism geared towards Chinese immigrant workers. Lin projects a movie of two trains coming together on a 6.5 x 10 foot painting of the Transcontinental RailroadTranscontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
. The viewer hears train whistles blowing and sees the flag near the train station shake in the wind. This incorporation of movement suggests that the movie projection of the two trains is a living embodiment of the Transcontinental.
Conversely, Lin’s backdrop in Names of the Unremembered: Transcontinental is a colorless painting of a rocky foreground, the Transcontinental Railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
tracks, and the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
background. On the hundreds of rocks that precede the tracks, Lin painted a Chinese immigrant worker’s name in red. Red, a symbol of blood, suggests that the lives of the workers were sacrificed in making the Transcontinental Railroad. The stones and the landscape are white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
, alluding to the desert scene as a white Chinese funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
. The somber painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
is meant to offset the moving train projection and create a feeling of death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
and mourning
Mourning
Mourning is, in the simplest sense, synonymous with grief over the death of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate...
.
Current
Lin is a Professor in the Painting and Drawing Program at the University of WashingtonUniversity of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, in Seattle, Washington.
Zhi Lin is represented by Koplin Del Rio, Culver City, California