Ju Ming

Ju Ming (Chinese: 朱銘; pinyin: Zhū Míng; 20 January 1938 – 22 April 2023) was a Taiwanese sculptor who attained fame in his native country in the 1970s, and then in New York City in 1983. Ju was trained as a woodcarver, and apprenticed to Lee Chinchuan as a teenager. He developed his skill and applied it to a range of media, including bronze, styrofoam, ceramics, and stainless steel.

In 1959, Ju moved back to Tunghsiao and opened his own studio with apprentices, creating a successful crafts business that left him dissatisfied. Ju became more artistic and tried innovative techniques. He married Chen Fu-mei, also from Tunghsiao, three years later.

After winning several awards in the prestigious Taiwan Provincial Art Exhibition, Ju felt that he could only develop further as a sculptor if he re-apprenticed himself, this time to Yang Yuyu, who himself had only just returned from a three-year art scholarship in Rome. Yang agreed, impressed by "Ju's flowing lines through the natural grain of the wood, the form executed with such an assured gentleness and humility."

In 1976, Ju took up tai chi on Yang's advice to develop physical and mental discipline. He developed greatly from this practice and started thinking about sculpting works on the theme of tai chi, which had never been done before. Ju's solo exhibition occurred in March at the National Museum of History in Taipei due to Yang Yu-yu convincing the museum authorities to show his student's pieces. It was highly successful and he was named as one of the Ten Outstanding Youths of 1976.

From 1980, Ju continued to gain international acclaim and exhibited abroad. He started The Living World "family", which he continued to expand. These bright figures are made of bronze, stainless steel, painted wood, foam rubber and cast bronze, giving him the freedom to depict the human form in all its varieties. Another is Ju's Living World series, depicting figures drawn from a modern, westernized society. Much of his work is housed at the Ju Ming Museum, just outside Taipei. The museum was built at the artist's expense, and is open to the public. Ju was awarded the 18th Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2007.

Ju Ming was born in Tongxiao, Shinchiku Prefecture, Japanese-era Taiwan on 20 January 1938. His father is Ju Li Chi and his mother is Wang Ai. His original name is Ju Chuan Tai. As the youngest in his family, his childhood nickname is Jiu Er (九二), which means ninety-two in English, to dedicate his parents' added up ages as 92 when he was born.

Ju Ming was apprenticed to a local woodcarver, Lee Chin-chuan from the Temple of the Empress of Heaven when Ju was 15. He learned about woodcarving and painting during his apprenticeship, which set the foundation for his future career as a sculptor. Ju Ming mentioned that during that period, he did woodcarving during the days and practiced painting during the nights. He recalled that Lee Chin-chuan's saying, "If a sculptor does not know how to paint, it is like an architect who can build houses but does not know how to do blueprint design drawings." He believed if a sculptor wants to carve well, he or she has to know and do many sketches, and most importantly not just copying other people's style; otherwise, the person is just an artisan, not an artist.

In 1959, Ju finished his apprenticeship and opened his own studio. He developed more carving experience and sharpened his carving skills through the crafts business. In 1961, Ju married Chen Fu-mei who is the model of one of Ju's famous sculptures, A Girl Playing Sand (玩沙的女孩). He further started to develop his innovative techniques and explore different artistic approaches. He also started to participate in art competitions and then won several awards in the prestigious Taiwan Provincial Art Exhibitions such as 1966's work Attractive to Each Other (相悅) and next year's Long Separation (久別). In 1968, Ju Ming began working under fellow sculptor Yuyu Yang's tutelage.