New York-based Chinese artist Zhang Hongtu is working on a new series of paintings centered on the bison, an iconic animal that is a classic North American symbol but also an important part of the artist's upbringing and heritage. Xin Fang's short documentary analyses the work of the artist but especially – as the title suggests – the creative process and the research that goes behind and before the brush on the canvas.
The documentary opens and finishes with Zhang Hongtu working on his paintings, surrounded by a cheerful duo of little helpers, his granddaughters, and him playing the reverse role of helper for the girls. However, between head and tail, we get the opportunity to discover the artist's past; in his very words: “Over these year bison is still the same, yet my life has changed completely”
The artist was in his 20's when the Cultural Revolution started in 1966 and fully embraced it at the beginning. The crave for changing was strong and Mao's words breached into young people's hearts. Then, in 1966, the Red Terror started, aimed to destroy the 4 Olds – customs, culture, habits and ideas – and many crimes and violence were endured, entitled by Mao's words and revolutionary zeal.
Finally, in 1982 the chance of a new life came, when he moved to U.S. Once in America, Zhang started his self-discovery path and concentrated on the personal expression through art, until ghosts of the past reappeared, awakened by the Tiennamen Square events. Highly motivated by the protests, he started his Long Live Chairman Mao Series, that earned him the definition of Political Pop Artist. The obsessive presence of Chairman Mao in American icons, in his work of the time, reflects the inescapable past in Zhang's life. However, he eventually felt the need to process the past and move on. Now, in his later artworks, he examines the relationship between the “East and West” in landscape paintings.
Zhang quotes poet Yuan Mei of Quing Dynasty: “It's important to learn from the history where your knowledge comes from; but you must let go what you have learned in order to create your own history”. It is exactly what the artist seems to have achieved in his personal growth and Xin Fang's documentary is an insightful glance into Zhang's process of leaving behind the heavy luggage from the past and proceeding to write his own future. In an unobtrusive manner, the director leaves the artist talk and allows him to reach back into his personal history and the struggle of re-assessing it. Some interesting footage of the past historical events and snaps of the artist in China and the early years in U.S. add depth and context to the narration.
“Before He Starts” is a clear observation into the artist's personal life experience, and in its short running time, it succeeds, with effective storytelling, in linking the origins of the creative process with the inspiration behind the canvas.
