Gao Xingjian

Gao Xingjian is eager to go beyond himself, to surpass his intellect in total integrity with his soul, constantly searching for his own profound development amidst his fragility. In his art, there is an intense power, one combining modernist techniques and the traditional Chinese brush strokes. Every artistic means of expression is explored and fused as ‘painting begins where language fails’. The contemplative and narrative images in his works show his journey in our unexplainable world and human condition, using many shades of black and white tones. Gao is wary of the intersection between ‘spiritual pollution’ and western modernism, ultimately believing that being an individual is like a lost paradise. He lives in the determination of not indoctrinating himself with ideologies, imposing his own personal and unique style. His multifaceted work is extensive; literary theorist, playwright, writer, critic, dramatist, director and artist as well as being the distinguished translator of a number of important published works.

Gao Xingjian was born in Ganzhou, China in 1940. Gao Xingjian was awarded Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1992 and Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000. His art exhibitions include: Museum ZKM,Karlsruhe; SENEDA Gallery, Barcelona; Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bern;Singapore Art Museum, Carousel du Louvre, Paris; Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, Asia-Art Center, Taipei; Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong, Grand Palais, Paris, Trejiakov Galerie, Moscow to name a few. His works grace the public collections of: Morat-Institut für Kunst und Kunstweissenschaft, Freiburg, Germany; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,USA; National History Museum, Taipei; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, Singapore Art Museum, Artothèque de Nantes, Musée Guimet, Paris, Théâtre Molière, Paris, Maison de la Culture de Bourges, La Ville de Marseille, France; Nobel Foundation, KrapperrusKonsthall, Malmö, Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Ostasiatiska-Museet, Stockholm, Sweden and Leibniz-Gesellschaft für kulturellen Austausch, Berlin, Germany. Gao Xingjian is now a French citizen living in Paris, France.