A Harmony of Contrasts
Horses have a special spiritual significance to Gao Xiang and feature prominently across his works. To him, the horse is a symbolic extension of his soul. The Dreams series prompts us to look deeper not only at the story unfolding on the canvas but also inside ourselves. The spiritual connection between the horse and the rider is felt throughout The Dreams series. The horse and the human become an extension of each other, the horse acting as a nurturing force or echoing the curiosity and spirit of exploration of the man. Yet, rendered in simple form, the horse is a complex force. Looming large compared to the much smaller figure of the man, the horse is a symbol of great power and mystery. This power can be contained or unleashed, gentle or ferocious, like an internal dialogue with the soul. The Dreams series compounds the mystery and spiritual qualities of the horse with those of the stars, arranged in mesmerising constellations inspired by antique Chinese astronomical charts. The energy of the works often follows the arrangement of the constellations. A bolt-like arrangement of the stars energizes the two horses and their rider into a kind of forward movement that Gao Xiang ingeniously conveys through three still figures. Another work picks up the stick-figure elements in the DUUDQJHPHQWRIWKHVWDUVLQWKHZD\WKHDUPVRIWKHKXPDQ¿JXUH SLFWXUHGDOPRVWÀRDWLQJDERYHDQR[DUHIROGHGEHKLQGWKHKHDG both the ox and the man lost in contemplation. A more vaster constellation inspires a horse whose exaggeratedly elongated shape under the stars feels timeless and eternal, like the universe. This poetic image simultaneously evokes melancholy and peace, sadness and hope.
Gao Xiang’s dream-like, beautifully harmonious works are deceptively simple. A master of conveying complex ideas, Gao Xiang achieves a harmony of contrasts—between tradition and modernity, East and West, dreams and reality—while exploring the complexities of internal and external worlds. The duality of life and space is a theme that runs throughout his oil paintings, works on paper, and installations. He invites us to question, to look deeper. The dream-like tranquility of the sleeping man and benevolent tiger is in contrast with the title of the series— Feed the Tiger . Yet, neither the title nor the apparent tranquility tell us the ending to this story. Is the WLJHUPHUHO\FXULRXV²RQKLVZD\WR¿QGELJJHUSUH\SHUKDSV² and the man peacefully sleeping? Or is it a more menacing reality? And if so, is the man an unwitting victim or is he indeed D%XGGKDZKRZLOIXOO\VDFUL¿FHGKLVERG\WRIHHGDKXQJU\WLJHU" Gao Xiang invites us to enter the dream. But as with any dream, he cannot tell us how it ends. In another work from the series, the tiger lies bleeding in the background while in the foreground a dancer is frozen in mid-step. Is the dancer in the midst of making a decision or regretting one? 7KLVLVDPRPHQWIUR]HQLQWLPH²DQRXWFRPHRILQ¿QLWHSRWHQWLDO stories, a precursor to a myriad of potential outcomes. What happened here, what will happen? Was it the dancer who hurt the tiger? Will the dancer help the tiger or turn away? Gao Xiang does not have the answers. As in life, each of us will construct our own VWRU\LQÀXHQFHGE\RXUSHUVRQDOOLIHH[SHULHQFHV
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