Solitude 《幽居》- A Solo Exhibition by Gao Xingjian
Venue: iPreciation (誰先覺), 50 Cuscaden Road, HPL House #01-01, Singapore 249724
Private Preview: Jun 26, 2021 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Jun 28 – Jul 17, 2021
(Due to social distancing, prior viewing arrangement is recommended. Please call 6339 0678 or email Brian at enquiry@ipreciation.com)
Exhibition Overview
iPreciation presents Solitude 《幽居》 — A Solo Exhibition by Gao Xingjian. The exhibition features 21 important works created between 1991 and 2012.
Gao Xingjian (b. 1940) is an internationally acclaimed novelist, playwright, poet, theatre and film director, painter, and philosopher. He was born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, China. Later, he moved to Paris in 1988. In 2000, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Through decades of creative practice, Gao combines Chinese and Asian philosophical traditions with European literary and artistic influences. As a result, his work reflects both Eastern thought and Western modernism.
Literary and Artistic Achievements
Gao’s literary works reach audiences around the world. His novels have been translated into more than forty languages. Likewise, theatre companies across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia regularly stage his plays.
Over the years, Gao has also built a remarkable career as a visual artist. Museums and galleries have organised more than one hundred exhibitions of his paintings. Among them, more than ninety were solo exhibitions.
In addition, publishers have produced over fifty catalogues of his paintings and photographs. During the past decade, Gao has also created three poetic films. These works combine poetry, painting, drama, dance, and music. Consequently, film becomes a comprehensive artistic medium in his practice.
Ink as Artistic Language
Critics often describe Gao as a “modern Renaissance man,” a title highlighted by the Milan Arts Festival 2008. Despite his early training in oil painting, Gao chose a different artistic path.
Instead of working with Western media, he paints almost exclusively with ink. In Chinese tradition, ink reflects the inner spirit of the artist. Therefore, the medium becomes an extension of the painter’s mind.
However, Gao’s early oil painting practice still influences his technique. For example, he layers different tones of ink to create depth and atmosphere. This method produces visual richness while maintaining the purity of the ink medium.
Interestingly, Gao often paints on large canvases instead of traditional rice paper. The scale allows him to explore greater spatial depth. At the same time, vast empty spaces introduce a quiet spiritual presence.
Using only ink and subtle tonal variations, he creates complex worlds of light and shadow. These elements reveal an amorphous space that he calls the “inner vision.” The imagery stands between abstraction and figuration and exists beyond conventional time.
Painting and Inner Vision
Emotion plays a central role in Gao’s creative process. Rather than following strict rules of composition, he allows intuition to guide each painting.
For this reason, his works rarely contain a fixed light source. Instead, forms appear to glow from within darkness. Meanwhile, darkness often emerges from areas of light.
This unusual approach reflects the fluid nature of human thought. Ideas surface briefly before fading away. Consequently, Gao’s paintings resemble a visual stream of consciousness.
The artist himself describes this philosophy clearly: “painting begins where language fails.” Viewers may look at the same work, yet each person interprets it differently. Meaning becomes personal and introspective.
As Gao explains, “The image is in you and you are in the painting.”
Awards and Recognition
Beyond the Nobel Prize in Literature, Gao has received numerous international honours. For example, France awarded him the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1992.
He later received the Legion of Honour in 2002. Other distinctions include the Golden Plate Award, the Lions Award from the New York Public Library, and the La Milanesiana Award.
Universities around the world have also recognised his achievements. Several institutions awarded him honorary doctorates, including universities in Hong Kong, France, Belgium, and Taiwan.
In 2018, the Aix‑Marseille University established the Gao Xingjian Research Space in its library. Later, in 2021, National Taiwan Normal University founded the Gao Xingjian Center.
Exhibitions and Collections
Gao’s paintings appear in many important international collections. These include the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Musée Guimet, the Singapore Art Museum, and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
In 2003, the city of Marseille organised “Year of Gao Xingjian.” The event presented his paintings, theatrical works such as August Snow, and other creative projects.
Later, Hong Kong hosted the Gao Xingjian Arts Festival in 2008 to celebrate his multidisciplinary achievements.
In 2015, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and the Museum of Ixelles organised a major double exhibition. The Museum of Ixelles presented a retrospective of Gao’s paintings. Meanwhile, the Royal Museums permanently installed six of his monumental works in their galleries.
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