Art That Takes Wing
Biographer Amy Alznauer’s second picture book biography is every bit as masterfully written as her first success, The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity* (Candlewick Press, 2020). Employing a narrative voice that is close to being poetry, Alznauer tells the courageous and remarkable life stories of the Chinese-born and now American sibling artists, the Zhou Brothers, who are prominent contemporary painters, sculptors, and performance artists of world renown. The fact that the dramatic illustrations are brilliantly rendered by the subjects themselves makes this an even more treasured book.
The narrative traces the lives of ShanZuo and DaHuang Zhou from their births in the 1950s in the Guangxi province of southern China up to their present-day fame. Shaoli (ShanZuo Zhou) was born in 1952 and Shaoning (DaHuang Zhou) was born in 1957. They were raised by their beloved grandmother, Po Po, who was the owner of a twice-burned bookshop during the terrorist revolutionary times when Chairman Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Mao’s rule of the Communist Party of China was both violent and repressive. The parents of Shaoli and Shaoning were sentenced to hard labor and imprisoned. A young sister was sold into slavery. Despite terrible danger during their boyhood years, their grandmother Po Po introduced them to the majesty of books and the magic of art. Later, they came of age during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) that took political censorship to fearsome extremes. Artists could only paint images of Chairman Mao or practice the art of calligraphy. Any other art images were not just banned, but burned and destroyed, and the artists were often imprisoned.
Throughout Flying Paintings, the wise words of Po Po resound and are repeated so often that they become familiar mantras. During the frightening times of their childhood, Po Po continuously reminded her grandsons that “The world is a beautiful and terrible place.” Po Po also emphasized how brave artists must live in a troubled world: To become an artist you must possess the highest spirit.
The Zhou Brothers learned to create art that was beautiful even in perilous times. They explored the nearby mountain cliffs of Huashan to discover and then replicate ancient cave paintings that their beloved Po Po told them represented works of beauty that had flown through the air and live eternally on the mountain walls. Their own spirits as artists continued to soar, particularly following the end of the dreadfully repressive Cultural Revolution.
From earliest childhood, the Zhou Brothers occasionally would add to each other’s paintings. Once, Shaoli accused his brother of ruining his seascape, but upon reflection and observation, the brothers realized that together they could create magical works of art cooperatively. They asked a single, unlikely question, “What if we make a painting together?” Shaoli painted the crest of a wave in a seascape. Shaoning used his brush to alter the way the water came in swells. As adult artists they took collaboration to new heights. They no longer painted individual canvases. The Zhou Brothers work on the exact same canvas or sculpture at the same time.
The Zhou Brothers emigrated to the United States in 1986 and began their American art careers in the Bridgeport area of Chicago, Illinois. They arrived in the USA penniless, but their striking paintings, sculptures, and performance art soon brought them great fame and recognition.
In 2011, President Barack Obama commissioned the Zhou Brothers to create a painting to present to then-Chinese President Hu Jintao during his state visit to America. In addition to creating exceptional works of artistic beauty, the Zhou Brothers have created new art centers in Chicago, Kansas City, Missouri and Beijing, China where they mentor and encourage young artists to create art that flies and imbues creators with the possession of the highest spirit.
The magnificent illustrations of Flying Paintings: The Zhou Brothers represent a minimum of three artistic styles. The brothers replicate ancient Chinese cave paintings. They reflect the influence of Impressionism to reveal their childhood, adolescent, and young professional years. Their present-day paintings and sculptures mirror abstract art.
Alznauer follows the illustrated and poetic narrative of Flying Paintings with two pages of prose history of the lives of the Zhou Brothers and the terrible yet beautiful places they have been. The end note also includes a contemporary photograph of the artists visiting their Chinese birthplace.
Home Activities
Research the lives and works of the Zhou Brothers online. Find examples of their paintings, sculptures, and even performance art. Create a work of art that imitates their unique styles.
ShanZuo and DaHuang Zhou have become especially well known and respected in the world of contemporary art because of their innovative collaboration. Their touchstone is that what two can create together is greater than what each might create individually. Follow up on the experience the Zhou Brothers live every day. Working with a sibling or a classmate, create a single painting that is the result of true collaboration, a single work of art created by at least two artists.
The cover art of Flying Paintings: The Zhou Brothers conveys the image of artistic creations that appear to soar through the air. Encourage young gifted artists to paint a landscape or seascape that contains imagery suggesting objects quite literally floating through the skies.
Performance art may be a new concept for gifted readers. In the year 2000, the Zhou Brothers were foremost in the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On stage and in the presence of a distinguished audience of world leaders the brothers created a large painting titled New Beginnings. The enormous abstract painting symbolized the work of the influential attending participants. Invite two or more children to plan and execute a seemingly spontaneous painting in the presence of family and friends. Students can add music and/or ongoing dialogue as they create a new masterpiece instantaneously.
Alznauer, Amy. Flying Paintings: The Zhou Brothers: A Story of Revolution and Art. Illus. by ShanZuo Zhou & DaHuang Zhou. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2020.
