Le Journal Exhibitions, Voices

One of the most-talked about artists at Art Brussels this year is Gao Xingjian. Chinese born but left for a life in exile in Paris in 1987, Gao’s neither figurative nor abstract work masterfully plays with light and shadows in a watercolor ink technique that is intentionally non-traditional. While some see silhouettes sailing off in the distance or abstracted landscape horizons, Gao’s work (shown by Galeria Senda in Barcelona) more deeply explores the contemplative and unexplainable edges of spirituality and the human condition.

In person, the work’s low contrast black and white tones invite the viewer to stand closer and closer – until ultimately arriving at an intimate distance where even more details and narrative are revealed.

Gao’s fascinating background and experience spans from poetry to plays and musicals, all the way to The Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000. It was a pleasure to see how his new work continues to explore and fuse together every artistic means of expression available and resonate so clearly in the market.