Gao Xingjian

Better known as a literary genius for his Nobel Prize winning novels, Gao Xingjian is the epitome of a well-rounded scholar. Built up a career diverse in both academic and artistic disciplines, Gao is a novelist, translator, dramatist, director, critic and artist.

Gao’s art are definitely not overshadowed by his revolutionary and wildly reputed literary works. Equal to his literary oeuvre, his paintings are works of art with a level of originality. Different from writing, ink and wash painting is for him another creative channel which he articulates his inner mindscape where words are not able to express. ‘Painting begins where language fails’, one of Gao’s lines which was frequently quoted by art critics, characterizes his art like a convincing visual poetry that explains his philosophy.

Gao Xingjian has exemplified the idea of creative self-expression, a personal code of aesthetics most artists have lost given the need to politicise their creations. By epitomising the notion of individuality, Gao has broken free from any kind of fashionable, pre-meditated aesthetical or philosophical codes, and relaying the importance of an artist to remain aware of their own sentiments, expressions, based on their own experiences, so as to effectively create, as opposed to being influenced by extrinsic factors.

Gao specialises in ink-painting and has held more than thirty exhibitions all around the world. His paintings have been used as cover illustrations for his own books. He now lives in France.