Ren Zhe is one of those artists who persevere in their individual exploration and pursuits. The many years of formal training from art high school through college have provided him with a strong technical foundation. He was a hard working student who always asked questions and came up with good ideas. After graduation, he could have chosen a more stable position and a better life, but being a strong-willed person, he relinquished the academic environment and placed himself in the "wild" cultural jungle to be examined, which is very difficult and unusual. Within this short period spanning just over one year, he has developed a more mature style of work that is widely recognized and praised by the art world.

　　At first glance, Ren Zhe's work appears to be highly influenced by traditional Chinese culture. However, he does not blindly adhere to these traditions; rather, he employs the spirit of the ancient warriors as a vehicle to express his personal fascination with history and his commentary on contemporary society. During his years of studying Eastern and Western sculptural art, he has gained an insightful understanding of the unique forms and characteristics of sculpture, which he has incorporated into his work. He has studied and researched the ancient traditional sculptural art of Egypt, Greece and China extensively. He later spent a long period of time examining the techniques and concepts of the master Italian modernist sculptor, Giacomo Manzu. Therefore, his present technique, which emphasizes geometric simplicity and rigor to bring out the feeling of weight and space, and a balance between simplicity and strength, is more influenced by the Western artists, such as Rodin and Manzu. He furthermore uses many traditional Chinese techniques, which he seamlessly infuses into his work. For him, it is not important whether the technique is traditional; rather, the spirit of the traditional culture is of utmost importance, otherwise, it would merely be a superficial resemblance without essence.

　　For a young contemporary artist, Ren Zhe seems to be deeply traditional, yet, his ideas and concepts are closely related to contemporary culture. Perhaps, his seemingly traditional work is actually the result of his contemplation of contemporary culture. In response to the overwhelming tide of materialism and desire for power, he passionately promotes the spirit of heroism. His deep immersion in traditional culture allows him to understand its essence and beauty; he hopes to absorb and infuse these qualities into our spiritually deprived contemporary culture. In Ren Zhe's work of ancient warriors and civil officials, he does not strive to create a feeling of realism. He carves and sculpts sparingly, focusing on the characteristic pose of a movement that gives the desired atmosphere and feeling: the aura that emanates from the work as a whole expresses a heroic grandeur. He borrows from the language of traditional culture to symbolize the disputes and contentions within contemporary society. His works emphasizes the contrast of different elements and fully utilizes the unique characteristics of the materials. He likes big and exaggerated movement poses, yet he fully understands the complementarity of action and stillness, and attends closely to the stillness within movement. He seeks an abrupt, crystalized arrest as he brings the forceful thrust of the movement into focus, thereby drawing out the hidden essence of tradition through the interplay of stillness and action. This is the most attractive and salient feature in his unique sculptural language that distinguishes his work from simple "expressive" sculptural work.

　　Unlike many of the 1980s artists, Ren Zhe has a strong sense of history and social responsibility. He chooses vital themes, especially heroism, its values and changes throughout history. In traditional Chinese culture, there has always been a deep respect for heroism. In the present age of diversity, consumerism, pleasure and deprived morality, the "heroic" has been destroyed and forgotten in this post-revolutionary world. In the process of searching for the primary cultural themes of heroism, Ren Zhe's work naturally possesses a historic sense that sets a clear demarcation from the work of other artists.

Li Xiangqun

Professor of Tsinghua University, Academy of Fine Arts

Member of Beijing People's Congress