Rock 'n' roll painter

After two decades as a hit singer on the mainland, Ding Wu, the vocalist of rock band, Tang Dynasty, has decided to return to his roots. Not his musical roots, however, as he will stage his first solo oil painting exhibition in Beijing from Nov 3.

Ding has titled the exhibition, Scream, Ding Wu Shouts at Painting, and he calls it a conclusion to his life as he approaches 50.

Rock singer Ding Wu is also a painter. Zou Hong / China Daily

Ding's love of painting preceded his passion for rock music. He started painting when he was 9 and has never stopped.

"When I was a kid, I stood on the street, holding a notebook and a pencil, randomly drawing whatever I saw," Ding recalls. "This exhibition fulfills a personal dream."

Sitting in his room, surrounded by paintings and guitars, the 48-year-old looks quiet and relaxed, showing no trace of the arrogance for which the rock band was once known. Instead there's a sense of humor and a sunny attitude to life.

Instead of the faded jeans, boots and long hair, typical of his singer days, Ding has short hair and wears loose shirts and pants. He even asks for a second to change his slippers for a pair of sneakers for the photographs.

"Usually, I paint every day for almost six hours. After sunset, I write music and do rehearsals with the band. My life is quite regular and healthy. Before I was a rock star and behaved like one, going out and drinking all night. But you don't do that when you are a middle-aged man."

The artworks to be displayed were created between 2007 and 2010, and mostly document his childhood. Born in Beijing, Ding spent six years living on a farm in Heilongjiang province when his father, who worked in the Air Force, was sent during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). Though living conditions were poor, he says "it was a heaven for a kid" and he enjoyed playing in the forest and river.

When he moved back to Beijing with his family in 1972, he decided to study painting and graduated from the department of fine arts in Beijing Arts and Crafts School in 1983.

After teaching for a year at the school, Ding quit to form the band Tang Dynasty, in 1988. The pioneering band released their first album, A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty, in 1991, which sold around 2 million copies in China and catapulted Ding to fame.

Their follow-up album, Epic, in 1998, and the third, Knight of Romance, 10 years later, cemented their place in the history of Chinese rock music.

Some of Ding's songs were composed after he completed a painting. "The process of painting gave me time to think and reflect," Ding says. That's why lots of his artworks have the same names as his songs, such as No Escaping and Tracing Back.

He is currently working on his Corner series, which records his music career since the early 1980s. The band's next album is also on his agenda.

"I feel happy that I can record my life with the two great art forms, painting and music. I express my feelings, either tears or laughter, through my brush and guitar. Now, I am nearly 50 years old, I recall my youth when I see my paintings and pieces of music, from those days in the village to the ups and downs on the road with my band," Ding says.