These dual qualities are also picked up in the poignant representation of the cowherd and the weaving maid star- crossed lovers who can only meet for a short time once a year. Suspended in the heavens and minimally rendered, the Goddess in her contemplation is a study of contrasts—is she dwelling on the sadness of her separation from her human lover, the happiness of their eternal love for each other, or perhaps both? 7KURXJKEROGDQGFRQ¿GHQWEUXVKZRUN*DR;LDQJFUHDWHVSRHWLF ZRUNVWKDWDUHQHLWKHU¿JXUDWLYHQRUDEVWUDFWVWUDGGOLQJDPDJLFDO dream-like space in-between. Gao Xiang invites us to enter the Dream but at the same time it is also an invitation to embrace reality—the inner reality, which for each of us comes with its own complexities and contradictions. Gao Xiang’s Horse Pagoda series re-envisions the horses in the form of Tang Dynasty terracotta figures stacked as a pagoda, a symbol rich in cultural and Buddhist meaning. Rendered in the traditional colors of red, white, and black, the pagoda of horses symbolizes the spirit of the seasons, and perhaps also the strength of tradition and the spirit of our souls. Sometimes pictured atop WKHSDJRGDLVDVPDOO¿JXUHRIDPDQVWDQGLQJRQWKHPLOOHQQLD of history, straining to see far into the future—another balanced duality, a question without an answer. This tiny figure, in the typical overlook pose, can be found throughout Gao Xiang’s works. While attaching great importance to tradition, Gao Xiang masterfully balances the dualities of past and present, East and West, weaving layers of dream, reality, and mythology. The subject matter of his works is inspired by Chinese traditions and history: the beautifully rendered star constellations from antique astronomical charts; the forms of the Han and Tang Dynasty terracotta horses; the ancient stories of a hunter shooting the sun, and the mortal falling in love with the Goddess. Frequently using a color palette composed of the predominantly traditional colors of red, white, and black, Gao Xiang nonetheless expresses Chinese traditional elements through a thoroughly contemporary language, using both Eastern and Western techniques. Finding a harmony between past and present, East and West, he revitalizes the millennia of tradition that are an inextricable part of Chinese contemporary culture, in terms that are relevant to the
contemporary world.
Gao Xiang is very interested in the theme of space, having written a Ph.D. dissertation on "A Contemplation of Space" about the Italian painter, Giorgio Morandi. Gao Xiang's installations continue the theme of his oil works while exploring the combination of painting, the transparent qualities of acrylic glass, and the environment. The transparency of glass allows the incorporation of the background space into the work. This in turn DOORZVIRUDOPRVWLQ¿QLWHH[SHULHQWLDOLPPHUVLRQV²DPXOWLWXGHRI GLIIHUHQWVWRULHVDQGGLIIHUHQWTXHVWLRQV²DVWKHZRUNLQÀXHQFHV WKHEDFNJURXQGDQGWKHEDFNJURXQGLQÀXHQFHVWKHSHUFHSWLRQRI the work. Gao Xiang was born in 1971 in Kunming. He received his Master's and Ph.D. from the prestigious China Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) in Beijing. Gao Xiang's works have been widely exhibited in China and internationally, including the National Art Museum of China, the Today Art Museum, the Ningbo Museum of Art, the Jiangsu Art Museum, the China Millennium Monument, the Capital Museum, Shanghai Zendai MoMA (now the Shanghai Himalayas Museum) in China, the Kwangju National Museum of Fine Arts and the Daegu Art Development Museum in South Korea, the Sovanna Phum Theatre in Cambodia, the Chiang Mai University Theatre, Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Centre in Thailand, the Örebro Konsthall City Art Museum in Sweden, the Vest-Agder Fylkes Museum in Norway, the Gallery of the University of Missouri-Columbia in the United States, the Arsenal Contemporary Art Museum in Canada, and the Grand Palace, the Carrousel du Louvre, and the Congress Palace Museum in France.
Katrine Levin (United Kindom) Curator and founder, Katrine Levin Galleries, London 16 February 2017, London
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