Life Temptation
Maker
The Zhou Brothers
(Shan Zuo: American, born in China, b. 1952; Da Huang: American, born in China, b. 1957)
Date1992
MediumCast bronze
DimensionsWithout base: H. 13 in. (33 cm)
Credit LineGift in memory and spirit of Professor Stan D. Vesselinovitch by his family
Object number2000.103
Object TypeSculpture
On View
Not on viewThe Chinese-born painters Shan Zuo and Da Huang, who work collaboratively as The Zhou Brothers, drew inspiration for this sculpture from a childhood boat trip to the 10,000 year-old cliff paintings on the Ning Ming River in their home province of Guangxi. As the Flower Cliff (Hua Shan) prehistoric murals loomed above them, their father filled their heads with classical Chinese stories. The Zhou Brothers first experimented with making sculpture in 1991. Like their paintings, these works blend ancient Chinese symbolism and modern Western abstraction. An important image to appear in Life Temptation and other early sculptures from 1992—and later in their paintings—was a long-torsoed figure with arms outstretched, echoing the imagery of Flow Cliff pictographs. Some have likened the stance of this ancient motif to that of a frog preparing to leap and have related them to the frog worship of the Zhuang minority of the area. Is the third appendage springing from the bronze figure’s waist, perhaps, a tail?
Collections
circa 12th century B.C.E.
circa 12th century B.C.E.
circa 12th century B.C.E.