Long have I wondered how human beings expressed themselves before the dawn of language. In my ten-year career as an established field reporter, I was constantly thinking about the value and significance of each society’s form of expression. I have...
Read MoreLong have I wondered how human beings expressed themselves before the dawn of language. In my ten-year career as an established field reporter, I was constantly thinking about the value and significance of each society’s form of expression. I have come to realize that painters were the earliest reporters of the primitive human society. Before the advent of language, stones and dyes were used to depict images of humans and cows in caves to record and disseminate history. They invented art to convey their message. I came to understand that painters and journalists are the same when they are creating a piece of work. So I began my journey as an artist. My passion for exploring a canvas harkens back to excelling in art contests of my childhood. However, as I grew up, I gradually understood the exam-oriented education restricted art–everyone was competing to see whose painting was most lifelike because that was the only way to get high scores, and such an atmosphere exhausted my interest in painting very quickly. I put down the paintbrush, picked up my camera and pen, and began a decade-long journey in the world of journalism.
Despite the arduous travel regimen required in the field, I did not journey alone--I was accompanied and inspired by masters in museums such as Edvard Munch, Francis Bacon, Vincent van Gogh, and Picasso. When I began painting, their influence was magnified on the canvas. Furthermore, the lack of presence of cave frescoes from the Tang Dynasty among these masterpieces has always resonated within my heart. One of my fundamental desires as an artist is to bridge the work of my country from three thousand years past into the current western works that are so widely celebrated in our artistic institutions.
This union came about after much deliberation regarding marrying the execution with the message of each piece. I eventually found solace in the classical instruments of my homeland. The core theory of traditional Chinese painting means applying strokes with horsehair brushes that mirror the elegance of our calligraphy. Utilizing this technique, I craft abstract and representational images that evoke the imperfections of a cave wall in Dunhuang with modern, western colors. The contrast is further driven by applying these rocky landscapes to bamboo paper, which is extremely fragile and allows for deeper layering with color.
In discovering this technique, a compulsion has arisen within me to explore the boundaries of these forms. There must be myriad methods in which to incorporate classical Chinese philosophy with the style of contemporary art. On a more personal level, painting has become the optimal way to express my feelings. I have so many stories to tell, and I feel completely free in front of colors and composition.
WEI GAO
Freedom painterCurator for "Office Painting" series of exhibitions and artist talksSenior JournalistCreative Director of FF (Faraday Future INC)
Solo Art Exhibitions
“Hey You!” May 2016 Columbia USAUniversity of Missouri Columbia Missouri USAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG5Kwje9d_Y
“Solar Turbulence” April 2015 Shanghai ChinaNew International Expo Center 8 hallhttp://news.99ys.com/news/2015/0427/20_191994_1.shtml
“Blow in the Pain” March 2015 Beijing China
No. 2 Warehouse gallery of Beijing 798 Art Zone
“Dissect Your Imagination” September 2014 Chongqing ChinaChang’an Automobile Group
Wei Gao’s solo exhibition and the inaugural event of "Office Painting" series of exhibitions June 2014 Beijing ChinaSina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Beijing headquarters, Ideal International Plaza.
