2001年，郑强以《新编穴位图谱》系列，参加了“中国实验水墨二十年”展览，获得评论界好评，作品为香港艺术馆和广东美术馆等收藏。与此同时，郑强却在不断地反问自己：中国的当代艺术只能是西方当代艺术的回声么?当“中国样式”沦为异国情调式的标签，以谄媚的姿态去求得认可的时候，是民族伟大的艺术传统向艺术权贵的庸俗妥协与就范;中国应该有不同于西方的艺术问题和艺术发展策略。经过一段时间的调整，郑强回过头，延续1993年肇始的《都市》系列，开始新一阶段的人物创作——《人们》系列。

　　与《都市》系列不同，郑强在《人们》系列中，大刀阔斧地去掉了原来复杂的背景，使人物在简洁之中呈现。这如同把那些时尚男女拉到了台前，亮相在聚光灯下。画中轻柔而又沉重的白色，是他这一批作品中重要的新元素，它带给我们稍稍不安的感觉。如烟，如雾，如幻的白色，围绕着他笔下的人物：有时如漂浮物，垂挂在身上，玷污着肌体;有时如胶般粘稠，滞碍着自由;有时又遮蔽着他们，让人无法清晰可辨;有时还虚无地溶化他们的身体，消解他们的青春和生命……。郑强的这批新作，留给我们广阔的想象和思索的空间。

　　郑强对待中国水墨传统的态度，既是顺民，又是逆子。在学习时，亦步亦趋，俯首称臣。在创作中，他又能时时提醒自己尊重创造，尊重自我。在他的新作《人们》系列中，圆润飘逸的淡墨与极富动感的人物造型巧妙地结合在一起，令笔墨的描写性与表现性相得益彰，淡墨和淡染色技巧独具特色的创造性发挥，是郑强对现代水墨画的新贡献(皮道坚语，见《十年磨一镜——郑强的都市水墨“镜像”》)。这些具有思想深度和艺术高度的作品，既是现代的，又是中国的。

　　郑强是中国当代水墨画优秀代表画家。

　　(摘自《墨非墨——中国当代水墨邀请展》艺评家推介辞)

　　Recommendation

　　By Xiao Chong

　　In 2001, Zheng Qiang brought up his piece Chinese Acupuncture Point Drawing, New Edition, to participate in the 20 Years Chinese Ink-painting Exhibition, which was highly praised by the critics, and was soon collected by Hong Kong Gallery of Fine Arts and Guangdong Gallery of Fine Arts. Often the painter argues: is Chinese art today merely an echo of the western art, an exotic label to flatter the tastes of the western critics and readers? No, the great Chinese culture and its art shall never be degenerated so to flatter authorities in art. We have our own aesthetics of arts and development stratagems, said the painter. Zheng Qiang came to be outstanding from this piece the Metropolis in 1993, and later his series All People.

　　Differed from the Metropolis, All People has no complicated background, each figure in spotlight, around with slight fantastic white that is smoky, some floating substance hanged, defiling the bodies, free but abstracted, hidden but obvious, stable but melting, and is so simple and fashionable. It will not be difficult to feel the restless, unstable, and worried. That’s nothing but our youth which is disappearing. The work presents us a wide space for thinking, far-reaching.

　　To the ink-painting tradition, Zheng Qiang is both a good citizenship and a wicked son, so gentle and modest in learning, and so aloof and proud in creating. In his current piece All People series, slight lump and elegant figures show his excellent skills in expression, and I think it is a unique skill I never seen in the ink-painting tradition.(Pi Daojian, A Decade Preparation -- Zheng Qiang’s Metropolis Mirrorimage Ink-painting.)It is modern and traditional as well, which can be regarded as a representative of excellent ink-painting work.

　　Zheng Qiang is a representative of excellent painter on Chinese Contemporary Ink-painting.

　　(extracted from Recommendation of Ink is Not Ink – Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting Invitation Exhibition)