Chosen Artist-Gao Xingjian

Biography
 Artist:                  GAO Xing-jian (1940-Present)
                             Born in Ganzhou, China
                             Novelist, critic, director, painter

Citizenship:        China(1940-1998)
                             France(Since 1998)
Alma mater:        Beiging Foreign Studies University
Notable award:   Nobel Prize in Literature 2000

Gao Xingjian

Gao Xingjian is known widely for his novels and people only remember he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000. In his early years, he studied sketching, ink and wash painting, oil painting and clay sculpture under the guidance of painter Yun ZongyingDuring.
During the Cultural Revolution he was sent to the countryside for reeducation, at which time he was forced to burn some of his manuscripts. In the 1980s, he published experimental literary works as well as nonfiction, but after one of his plays was banned, Gao retreated to nature to avoid any further exposure to controversy. In 1987, Gao Xingjian left China for Paris, and was granted French citizenship in 1997. The expressive paintings that spring from Gao’s introspection are characterized by a spontaneity of touch. His style can be characterized as that of “writing of the idea”, which allows him to create subtle, intuitive works that move between figurative and abstract art.

 

Why Gao Xingjian?

Gao's paintings reveal the spirit of contemporary China. His words once brought him into trouble and made him an experienced refuge. With a book referring to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, all his works had been all banned in China since then. Living in France now, the Chinese contemporary artist has westerner audience. His paintings are described as the beauty of darkness. Unlike other form of painting. Ink wash paintings are only composed of black and white which makes reading the painter's mind more difficult. Still, I want to understand more of Gao not only through his novels but paintings.




Reference:
http://www.asiaartcenter.org/c_index.php?page=artist_detail&artistno=21
http://www.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/electronic/gao/gao_paintings_e.htm#arts
http://www.michaelgoedhuis.com/Gao-Xingjian-DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=45&tabindex=44&artistid=106246
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gao_Xingjian
http://www.answers.com/topic/gao-xingjian

When Industrial Buildings become Artists' Studios

Fotanian Open Studios has been the the first outing we had after our first lesson and it has also been my first time in life set foot into artists' studios. In most people's perception, scenes from some movies will probably pop into their minds when they are to visit artists' studios: messy dark rooms, moldy walls and unpleasant odor. However, the reality in fact was just the opposite. These artists have their tastes and they exert their effort to make their workplaces nicer in every aspect. I was totally amazed by the music the played when I was visiting their studios. It ranges from Soul to R&B and Rock to Classical. I never know what music they were playing and may not understand every story behind their art work, but was totally impressed by the trip.

Perhaps it was the music made the exhibition so much like a Carnival. There each studio had at least one artist ready to explain to you his philosophy and what messages each of his art piece carries. So engrossed in the artistic environment, we seem to forget the studios are situated industrial buildings. The factories have transformed to artists' paradise where artists can occasionally showcase their work to the general public, share to us their stories and get inspired by passing-bys.



Art has given way to the mainstream

That was also the reason why I decided to take this course: Simply because I know nothing about art and wish to receive some education through this course and every outing.

Having a preliminary plan of the day, I went straight to Building 2 which is connected to another building so people were easily confused.

The facilities were a bit old and out of maintenance but contrast well with artists' studios.

Artist And Money

        The first artist that I visited was Wilson Shieh. I stayed in his studio for around two hours. He is such a sociable and witty artist. Before meeting him, I always think artists live in their own ivory towers and no one except loneliness can understand what they are trying to say through art.

          To a wider extent, Wilson's artwork can reflect his personality-humorous and committed to the community. He is observant in what is happening in Hong Kong. Mainstream cultures and subcultures always appear in his work. They include sex, gender, Chinese culture, history, social phenomenons, politics and so on.

     Needless to say, an artist can easily express his view through art. Along with his drawing Wilson loves to express opinions through explicit and direct texts. "That is the quickest way to get people understood" he explained.  He is particularly well-know for his Chinese fine-brush (gongbi) technique. He successfully blends Chinese literature with his cartoon characters. Sometime, his paintings are proses yet sometime become posters or comic books.

         When asked which piece did he like the most, he immediately point to "Artist and Money".  "People are particularly curious in knowing how an artist earn a living in Hong Kong. This (the artwork) will bring them to the answer. Artists nowadays have their own ways to survive." he added. 



Study to acquire knowledge; Exam to get marks

             In the painting, he categorized his major income into four parts, namely:Art-teaching, non-teaching, selling art work and others. When I asked why he choose art, he replied "I choose freedom. I want to get control of my own life." 
 On the left is an artwork showing two students in uniforms performing Acrobatics. The flags read: Study to acquire Knowledge; Exam to get Marks. Surely it is a accusation to our educational system when parents and schools require our younger generation to be able to master so many musical instruments, sports and languages at the same time. That is likely the road he went through when he was at time forced to cram books in brain. An artist's artworks cannot be adequately understood in isolation from his story. When I try to google search "Wilson Shieh", I was totally stunned by his academic achievement. He scored 7A2B in HKCEE. Ironically, he might have forgone so much freedom in his younger age in exchange of what he is truly in love of.



Who is Grandfather?

            On the right is the artwork: Who is grandfather? It illustrates what officers' duties are and who are in the positions. He explained it was because many Hong Kongers are confused by different titles and names of Mainland officers and so he used primary school level matching exercise as the concept backbone. However, there is something more sensitive inside. To some extent,  it points out the identities problem of Hong Kongers. Hong Kong was once the colony of the British Empire and this unique background bring us sound legal system and political autonomy. After the handover from the British to China. China and Hong Kong seem to have contradictions in many areas of which the most noticeable gap is whether we still have our autonomy and democracy.





       Apart from that, Donald Tsang, the former Executive Officer of HKSAR who was incurred into corruption rumors and faced with integrity problems also had appeared in his artwork. 


        I really enjoy the time chatting with Wilson and I am very much inspired by his values and belief. We tend to be indifferent to things that we do not care but in fact there are a lot more we can do:spreading out.

Girl behind Bars by Winnie Siu Davies

In addition to Wilson Shieh, there were also many brilliant artists. The left are the "Window Series" of Winnie. The series is based on the theme:windows. The artist said "you may imagine whether you are inside looking outside through windows, or you are outside peeping inside through the windows from outside." Definitely, people will see different views from different perspective.

The " Girl behind Bars" is about young prostitute problem in Hong Kong: on the wall hung her uniform and she is sitting naked on the bed, next to her put a handbag form Louis Vitton.

Young people's value judgment being deformed.

 Viewing from the back, the LV handbag and the neon-light from billboards are bright in color. The catch our view immediately and no one will pay attention to the uniform hung on the wall and people will surely guess she can put aside her dignity and morality in exchange of materials as we cannot see her face. However, imagine we are viewing the girl through the window from outside, she may be crying.
Quote from Winnie:"What views you can get through the windows are most important factors for the value of the fixed assets."  We can only know the answer if we got a chance to view from the window.

Different Bags by Winnie Siu Davies

     On the left are painting sharing similar meanings. The old lady sitting on floor with her striped plastic bag contrasts a young celebrity in the Chanel billboard advertisement. This time the message is more direct. It reflects the age problem and seriousness of the wealth gap in Hong Kong.

     
"Our city is becoming more polarized than ever before". But it is not the message all these pitiful, lonely and poor images trying to convey! Rather, it is a call for help from them: Be aware of social injustice and lend a helping hand.

In different position, we have different perceptions on the distance between the sky and us. Some think we can touch it. Some think it is not realistic trying to touch the sky. We seem to forget that we are equal and we live on the Earth. How do you interpret this set of photos?