"Justice and evil" has always been one of the important motifs of Mr. Zhou Dongshen's printmaking, but as his artistic characteristics of "seeking gray changes in black and white", "good and evil" are often mixed together. Although they are as well-defined as "black" and "white", because human nature is complex, it is mixed with neutral gray. Today, the work "The Police and the Thief" brought to you tells such a story of "good and evil" mixing.
The Policeman and the Thief, 8cm×9cm, 1998
In 1999, he participated in the "Wrclaw Small Print Exhibition" in Poland.
The creation of this small woodcut was inspired by the stills cut from popular film magazine that year, plus his own understanding of life. When I was a child, I watched this movie, and there are many plots that I have forgotten now, but one of them is still fresh in my memory. The police and the thief were originally rivals, but when the police were chasing the thief, they suddenly fell down due to their obesity, and then the thief who ran in front of him quickly ran back to help the police, and then the two of them chased after me and ran, like a game scene on the sports field, very funny and humorous. Later, the thief turned evil and returned to justice, and the police and the thief became good friends. --Zhou Dongshen
The Policeman and the Thief movie poster is distributed by a Chinese film distribution company
Created in 1998, the Italian film Cop and the Thief was remade by Russian director Nikolai Dostali in 1997, and its introduction and stills were published in Popular Cinema (No. 9, 1998). Zhou Dongshen saw the film introduction and stills from the "Popular Film" magazine, and because he had seen the film as a child, coupled with many years of life experience, he had some understanding, so he created the work.
The whole picture presents the plot story of the police chasing the thief, Mr. Zhou Dongshen borrowed the image elements and composition forms in the movie poster, focused on portraying the two characters of the police and the thief, and processed it in a comic way, the character expression is more abundant and exaggerated, and its wearing and actions are more in line with the character and characteristics of the character.
"The Police and the Thief" Part I
The painting adopts a symmetrical composition, and the police and the thief are separated from the left and right, back to back, in the opposite direction. The policeman on the left side of the picture, dressed in uniform, with a pistol at his waist, holding a baton in his left hand, his right arm raised, his fingers in front of him, his eyes wide open in anger, his beard bent and cocked, and his mouth long and large o-shaped, as if to say: "You stop me!" His round belly made his tunic tight, and the belt slipped below his stomach, almost obscuring half of his legs, accentuating the policeman's chubby, rounded figure even more. The large leather shoes also further enhance the drama of the characters. The thief on the right side of the picture has wide eyes and a look of surprise. He was a goon-like thief with his shirt open, his shoes on his right foot had been lost, his hat had almost flown away, but fortunately he was grabbed by his left hand and held a round thing in his right hand. Zhou Dongshen creatively portrays this right hand, which is a hand that can be both forward and backward, and has a third hand, a detail that implies the foreshadowing of the thief. The image of the policeman and the thief is bright and dark, white and black, showing the opposite position, forming a relationship between good and evil, hunting and escaping. In the picture, they are misplaced, in order to highlight the speed of the police pursuit, and even chased the front of the thief. The thief was surprised by the presence of the police, so he showed a frightened expression.
The Policeman and the Thief Part II
Zhou Dongshen's portrayal of the two characters of the policeman and the thief is very meticulous, the action is in place, the expression is rich, and the muscles, beards, hair and sweat are all portrayed one by one, vivid and vivid. The policeman's jacket lines are flexible, uniform, strong and powerful, and the knife is broken, forming a gray transition between black and white, highlighting the personality characteristics of the character; the thief's jacket is black, and Mr. Zhou Dongshen uses a blocky way to perform, highlighting the evil nature of his behavior. Therefore, when Mr. Zhou Dongshen portrays the character image, all the woodcut techniques and expression techniques are to highlight the theme and viewpoint.
Through this work, Mr. Zhou Dongshen expressed his views and thoughts on "good and evil": there is no eternal enemy, only eternal friends. - Yunsha West River
The Policeman and the Thief Part III
Although thieves may have a good side, for whatever reason, theft is a crime, and thieves should be the target of everyone's shouting and beating everywhere. Soon to the National Day holiday, Xiaobian here in advance to wish the audience a pleasant journey. May the country and the people be safe, and there will be no thieves in the world!
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