80 Expressive Figurative Paintings By Chinese Artist Zhaoming Wu

Painting by Artist Zhaoming Wu

1 of 50

Painting by Artist Zhaoming Wu

Born and bred in Guangzhou, China, Zhaoming Wu graduated from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art in China, where he earned a BFA in painting and received his MFA in painting from Academy of Art University , San Francisco, California.

Long active as both an artist and a teacher, Zhaoming is a very successful painter and his works hang in museums and private collections around the world. He served as a assistant professor of painting at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art in China for seven years and is currently an instructor of painting at the Academy of Art University in U.S.

Selection of Recent Press
2013 American Art Collector Sep Issue (P124-125)
2013 International Artist Aug/Sep Issue (P6)
2013 French Art Magazine, Pratique Des Arts June/July Issue (P19-23)
2013 Chinese Art Magazine, Art of Watercolor Aug Issue (P69-70,P110-111)
2013 Spanish Art Book, Arte Y Libertad VII (P114-115) Artelibre Publisher
2013 Plein Air Magazine Feb Issue (P56-65)

Book

2012 A 193 page monograph hard cover book on Zhaoming Wu’s painting, Published by Tianjin Art Publication, China
2010 A 63 page monograph soft cover book three of Zhaomino Wu’s drawing, Published by Guangxi Art Publication, China
2010 A 82 page monograph soft cover book three on Zhaoming Wu’s painting, Published by Tianjin Art Publication, China
2008 A 73 page monograph soft cover book two on Zhaoming Wu’s painting, Published by Tianjin Art Publication, China
2006 A 80 page monograph soft cover book one on Zhaoming Wu’s painting, Published by Tianjin Art Publication, China
2006 A 59 page monograph soft cover book two of Zhaoming Wu’s drawing, Published by Guangxi Art Publication, China
2003 A 60 page monograph soft cover book one of Zhaoming Wu’s drawing, Published by Guangxi Art Publication, China
2005 A 108 page monograph hard cover book on Zhaoming Wu’s painting, Published by ZMW Studio, U.S.

Art Instructional DVD

Solitude painting DVD produced by Liliedahl Video Productions
Sunlight painting DVD produced by Liliedahl Video Productions
Head in Charcoal drawing DVD produced by Liliedahl Video Productions

Selection of Award & Honor

Juror of International Art contest–Modportrait, European Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona, Spain 2013
Notable Resident, Piedmont, California
Second Prize, International Artist Magazine (Aug/Sept 2013)
Grand Prize, International Artist Magazine (Aug/Sept 2005)
Art Distributors Award, Oil Painters of America 2005
Daler-Rowney Award, Oil Painters of America 2000
Gustafson Fund Award, the National Oil and Acrylic Painter’s Society
First place, 9th Biennial National Figure Painting and Drawing Exhibition in Mendocino Art Center, California

—
From Wikipedia:

Zhaoming Wu is a Chinese-born painter. Wu grew up in Guangzhou City, China. and he received his BFA from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and his MFA from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California.

Personal life
Wu grew up during the Cultural Revolution. At the age of 8 the government closed the schools and he had to leave. He spent his days copying comic books and studying Chinese brush painting from a book. When he was 12, his mother, a doctor, recognizing his talent asked a patient, a professor at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, to train her son.

Following his graduation from high school, Wu took a job as a graphic artist for an advertising agency which required that he take classes every morning in graphic design from the Shanghai Light Industrial College. He credits that early work for honing his skills and for helping him to understand how to use imagery to tell a story.

Both an artist and a teacher, Wu served as a professor of painting at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He currently teaches painting at the Academy of Art University.

Wu lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Work
Wu focuses on figurative work, using live models, mainly women draped in cloth, although his repertoire includes landscapes and portraits. The curves of the body and folds in cloth remind Wu of nature, such as mountains, water, and sunrise and sunset. Wu’s style is impressionistic and moody. It has evolved from initially painting “quickly and spontaneously” with exaggerated values and colors to growing more logical and conscious, according to Wu. Art of the West magazine described his work as “nothing if not Western in style and theme,” despite Wu’s training in China. This is also reflected in his choice of models.

Wu is known best for his figurative paintings. Inspired heavily by 19th century French painting, Wu describes his work as “representational, but not traditional classical.” This can be seen, as Wu uses modern elements of graphic design in his work.

Wu’s design principles derive from traditional Chinese painting. Wu begins composing a new image by determining what he calls points, masses, and lines. A line refers to any prominent edge, shape, or series of shapes that sweeps through the painting. A point refers to any small shape, and a mass refers is any large shape or cluster of small shapes that can be grouped together to become one large shape. While a painting can be built on two or even just one of these three elements, Wu prefers to build his compositions on a mixture of all three. “I use points, masses, and lines the way a composer uses notes to write a song,” Wu explains.

Since 1983, Wu’s work has been exhibited in Asia, Europe, and the United States. He has won awards including the Merit Award at the sixth National Art Exhibition, Beijing; the Gustafson Fund Award; the National Oil and Acrylic Painter’s Society Award (United States); first place in the ninth Biennial National Figure Painting and Drawing Exhibition; second place in International Artist magazine Challenge No. 4 (Aug/Sept 2001); and the Daler-Rowney Award from the Oil Painters of America.

Wu has released seven books of his work and has been featured in three DVDs. His work has been published in International Artist Magazine (April/May 2003, August/September 2005), Art of the West (September/October 2004, July/August 2007), Art Talk Magazine (February 2005), and American Art Collector (January 2007). Wu was featured in the DVD Solitude: In the Studio with Zhaoming Wu, released December 2007.

Zhaoming Wu website

Gallery

Painting by Artist Zhaoming Wu

—