The overall impresssion on Zhao Hai’s art shows the core meaning of the expressionism.

Expressionism, as an exotic art style, has not rooted deeply in China till now. One of the reason is that due to the traditional self-centred philosophy, the Chinese artists tend to take the Westren art as something like chewing gum, instead of learn it from heart.

Hai Zhao chooses locomotive as the main subject of his pictures is of deep meanings.In Chinese the word Locomotive called Ji Tou, the same pronunciation as the head of a cock. The shape of Chinese territory is just like a cock. His works are not about the retrospects of the early Industrial Revolution, neither about the Train Mao Ze Dong itself, but the Sisyphos which has taken the artist many years to achieve. He’s powered the Sisyphos with his painting brush. As it for him, the sisyphos is a spiritual symbol as well as an accusation. The locomotives in the paintings looks like a group of suicide cetacean rushing towards the shore.

The artist also has frozen himself in the metal world. The only hope is the clouds constantly changing in the sky. Day in and day out, the human body of the artist has changed into the rail track, a human flash track, a burning track, a red track.

There is no artist in the end.

He has terminated the nothingness by every accomplishment.

By that means, nothingness is no more. The meaning of life is there.

fengzhi

2008.5.11