Tightrope (1996-1997)

“ I paint my world, my own experience. Should you just open your eyes and look at any single street in Beijing, read the newspaper, watch the television, you would find what I paint is all from these places.” The grotesque aspect derived from extravagant methods, comical technique and expression, inconsistent forms, the era and looks in Zhu Wei’s works all come from daily life. In the series Tightrope, viewers can sense the sharp irony from the arrangement of the pictorial plain and the accompanied poems. Zhu’s characters in his painting express their emotions not from their body language, but in their eyes. Although some of the figures seem contented, others are alert and resourceful while the rest look fatalistic, depressed or agitated. They appear to be walking among landmines, cautious about making a wrong step. Kids in the picture are wearing a face: the na?ve kind that is used to being unjustly punished. They are all concentrating on the balance upon the tightrope and trying their best to perform a perfect show to please others.

《走钢丝》（1996-1997年）

“我画我自己的世界，我自己的经历，你只要睁眼看看北京的任何一条街，看看报纸，看看电视，就会发现我画的全都是那儿的东西。”朱伟作品中那些夸张的形式，漫画的手法、表情、不协调的形状、时代和外表的怪诞都来自生活。在《走钢丝》系列作品中，观众能在题画的安排和题词的字里行间看到尖锐而直接的挖苦讽刺。朱伟笔下的人物，不是身体语言，而是人物的眼睛暴露出了他们的感情。尽管这些人中的一些看起来心满意足，有些人则警觉而机敏，也有人听天由命、愁眉苦脸、怨气冲冲。他们似乎都在社会这个地雷区里踽踽前行，生怕走错了一步。作品中的这些孩子面上挂着习惯被莫名惩罚的孩子才有的神情，全神贯注于找到钢丝上的平衡，竭尽全力用尽善尽美的表演取悦于人。