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