http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/11/arts/seno.php
International Herald Tribune
Gao Xingjian: Composing a narrative in ink paint
By Alexandra A. Seno
Monday, June 9, 2008
HONG KONG: 'An artist must walk his own path, and if there are rules, they should only be rules that he himself has created," Gao Xingjian writes in the catalogue for the current exhibition of his paintings at the Alisan Fine Arts gallery in Hong Kong.
Gao, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000, has had an artistic journey notable for being multidisciplinary and outstanding in two genres.
Although he is better known around the world as a playwright and novelist, Gao, 68, is celebrated among fine art connoisseurs as one of today's giants in the ink-on-rice-paper medium. Like his writing, his paintings convey poetry, intellect and powerful narrative. At the same time, Gao, who was born in eastern China, is a master of ink technique, and his works exude a creative energy born of Chinese tradition while also being thoroughly universal and contemporary.
In the last five years, Gao's main form of creative expression has been painting, which he does as a physical activity while listening to classical music, mostly Vivaldi, Kodaly and Bach. The mental and emotional anguish of writing has been blamed for his health issues, including heart problems that resulted in two rounds of open-heart surgery.
Alisan, which has represented Gao as a painter since 1996, mounted the Hong Kong show as part of the Le French May cultural festival, which included an academic-oriented Gao Xingjian literary conference organized by the City University of Hong Kong. The art exhibit opened on May 22 and closes Wednesday.
It is Alisan's fifth Gao show, and the opening brought the artist, who lives in Paris, to Hong Kong for the first time since his health problems in 2003. Gao created most of the 25 new paintings this year and last year specifically for this show.
"Gao said that he is continuing to explore the path he has taken," said Alice King, the director of Alisan and one of the world's leading promoters of contemporary Chinese ink painting, "that is, to produce works that are neither figurative nor abstract, paintings that are about emerging shadows from his deepest self and could not be rendered in anything else but in ink.
"He puts the emphasis on the subtle play of light and shadow, flat surfaces exuding a three-dimensional depth," she added. "His surviving his illness has no doubt nourished a deeper sense of self, inspirational to his painting."
The works at Alisan continue in the unique style for which Gao has become known: dramatic pieces, rendered primarily in black Chinese ink, his chosen medium since the early 1980s. Gao had an intense childhood art education in mainland China focused on European-style drawing and oil painting. And now he has become a high priest of ink painting using a Western format. His pictures occupy nearly the full frame of the paper, and, echoing his life as a teller of tales, each painting is a story.
One piece in the show, "Guerre" (War) stands out as a sublime and thrilling testament to Gao's genius as a painter. The bottom third of the painting depicts a slightly rolling, dark landscape with an almost glaring horizon dotted with small, sharp brushstrokes that may be interpreted as either trees or battalions of warriors. Overhead, the sky is gray with a swirl like a cluster of dangerous, brooding storm clouds. The painting, which is 82 centimeters by 93 centimeters, or 32 inches by 36 inches, was executed with the difficult combination of pouring ink wash on the paper and applying more ink with a dry brush.
Another large image, "Monts et cours d'eau" (Mountains and Streams), which measures 104 centimeters by 88 centimeters, portrays mountain ranges in the distance. It is a fine example of Gao's control of ink wash: With only black ink at his disposal, he elicits varying shades and textures that suggest a range of terrain and hues found in nature. "Le Routard" (Backpacker) features one of his signature mysterious silhouette figures traveling into an unspecified distance.
Photographs of Gao's paintings often do not come close to capturing the sophistication and emotion of the originals. Gao has described his ink works as "more than self-expression, self-purification."
His paintings are an integral part of his life as an artist and have always coexisted alongside his writing. By the time he was 10 years old, Gao had published his first novel and completed two years of formal painting lessons. Although he later considered attending art school, he opted instead to study French and started a career as a translator.
When his writing began to be published, his paintings appeared as covers for the original Chinese editions of his books. Later, after fleeing China and beginning a life of exile in Europe in 1987, Gao supported himself by selling his paintings.
In the context of his own life's narrative, Gao's art and his experiences are intertwined. Hard-earned dignity and integrity imbue both his writing and painting. He has suffered much, and publicly, to stay true to his ideals.
During the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s, he was forced like many other intellectuals to destroy his works. In the mid-1980s, he was a rising literary star but ended up wandering along the Yangtze River for almost a year to escape political persecution. During that time, he also believed erroneously that he was dying of cancer. The journey produced "Soul Mountain," the semi-autobiographical novel cited by the Nobel committee in awarding him the literature prize.
After the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, he became persona non grata to the Chinese government for staging a play critical of Beijing. Having lived in France since 1988, he became a French citizen in 1997.
While Gao's paintings are well-respected among connoisseurs of ink painting and the cultural elite, his subdued yet complex style has not gained attention at a time when the fashion in contemporary Chinese art has been defined as bright and flashy oil paintings on canvas.
He is also barely known in his homeland. His writings remain banned in mainland China and have only been openly published and sold in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Despite being the only writer born in China to win a Nobel Prize in Literature, his name is never mentioned in the mainland media and he is never officially acknowledged.
When Gao won the Nobel, the Chinese government congratulated the French government because one of its citizens had been honored with literature's most prestigious award. Today, most Chinese have never heard of him.
In the Alisan show's catalogue, Gao writes, "Even when faced with a market choked with trends and fashions, or an environment saturated with political utilitarianism, if the artist is able to remain unmoved, if he does not compromise, then he will be the type of artist who can create a new aesthetic value, and who will continue to write art history."
Whatever the current winds of whim and politics, Gao's place in China's cultural history appears to be indisputably set.
International Herald Tribune Copyright © 2008 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
Monday, July 21, 2008
artinfo.com: Chinese Contemporary Art Record
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27707/chinese-contemporary-record-broken-a/
artinfo.com: ART HK 08
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27637/debut-hong-kong-fair-makes-its-mark/?page=1
Newsweek: The Gloss is on Glossies
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137491
The Glamour And The Gloss
In the flagging media industry, only lifestyle magazines show signs of life.
Alexandra A. Seno
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 1:20 PM ET May 17, 2008
Wearing three-inch stilettos and a giant Chanel ring on one hand, Anne Lim-Chaplain strides purposefully to a shelf in her office. The managing director of the lifestyle magazine Prestige Hong Kong picks up a prototype of her third-anniversary issue, due on newsstands in September, and tosses the 800-page volume on her desk, where it lands with a thud. Even compared with 2007's record profits, advertising for the first quarter of the year is up 41 percent. "Things are very good," says Lim-Chaplain, "The rich will always be a good bet."
Lifestyle magazines—slickly produced publications catering to the wants and desires of the wealthy elite—are flourishing in a global media environment where little else is. Every few days, a lifestyle glossy is born somewhere. The large-format, highly stylized books that typically focus on clothing and consumption have even lured some unusual punters to the table. Suffering severe advertising declines in its regular pages, the formerly staid Wall Street Journal will launch its much anticipated WSJ. magazine in September, following the successes of the New York Times' T Style and the Financial Times' How to Spend It.
This passion for fashion and other frivolities is, of course, as much about publishers' bottom lines as about hemlines. No one loves disposable income more than an advertiser. "There is growth in these magazine markets, coming from a low base, especially in India and China," says Vivek Couto, head of research at the boutique consultancy Media Partners Asia. Compared with general-interest publications, lifestyle magazines offer a more efficient dispersion of the ad dollar. "It's like pay television," says Couto. "Niche makes sense. You are targeting a top-scale consumer with good purchasing power."
Glossies also benefit greatly from the kinds of advertisers they attract. While many brands moved much of their marketing money to Web-based campaigns and television, luxury companies have remained fiercely loyal to published products. According to The Nielsen Company, the international data-research group, the $150 billion luxury industry invests 22 percent of its total advertising budgets in newspapers and an overwhelming 76 percent in magazines. The tactile nature of the glossy magazine remains the ideal vehicle for an industry built on exquisite craftsmanship and sensual experiences. "You have to feel and touch luxury," says Lim-Chaplain. "Our magazines are oversize, filled with beautiful pictures, beautiful people. It shouts luxury."
Critics argue that the glossies are so beholden to advertisers that they have lost any semblance of editorial independence. "It's not even as if there is a line that keeps getting crossed," says author Toby Young, whose experiences as a young staffer at Vanity Fair prompted him to write the bestselling memoir "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," due out as a film in October. "There is no line."
It's a complaint that doesn't particularly keep lifestyle editors up at night. Barrie Goodridge, the chief executive of Edipresse Asia, a local unit of the Swiss media giant that publishes 10 different Asian editions of Tatler, says the close bond with advertisers is more organic than dictated. "I don't tell my editors what to write but the DNA of the magazines is positive spin," he says. Peter Comparelli, editor of Prestige Hong Kong, says that he aims to uphold the standards of fairness, quality and good design, but believes readers understand who butters his bread. "There is a lot more influence from clients because that is the nature of the beast," he says. "There is some blurring and I think readers know what is going on."
Hong Kong, home to 7 million, is one of the region's biggest advertising markets and is served by no fewer than four English-language magazines focused on high society and high living. In the 12 months ending in March, 49 luxury brands tracked by Nielsen spent $66.9 million in advertising in Hong Kong—29 percent more than in the previous year, thanks to new companies entering the market and more-established players spending more on advertising. "Our readers want to feel like part of the luxe lifestyle, the A-list," says Comparelli. Half-jokingly he adds, "We have a rule: we don't feature cars that a Prestige editor can afford." The approach is paying off handsomely: this month Comparelli's publication, which has a circulation of 30,000, offers 328 pages of beautiful frocks, as well as articles on recent soirées, the new Mercedes sedan and fine wines.
What lifestyle publishers ultimately serve up is an integrated marketing opportunity that goes beyond their magazine pages. Goodridge likens the Asia Tatler group to a club, citing the annual ball that each edition throws for clients and socialites, as well as the private events for automakers like Rolls-Royce and Jaguar that the publications host. The group is enjoying a 25 percent annual rise in revenues across Asia; in five years, Edipresse aims to triple its portfolio of lifestyle magazines. What print media crisis? Clearly, in this genre, growth is not just a luxury, it's a way of life.
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/137491
The Glamour And The Gloss
In the flagging media industry, only lifestyle magazines show signs of life.
Alexandra A. Seno
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 1:20 PM ET May 17, 2008
Wearing three-inch stilettos and a giant Chanel ring on one hand, Anne Lim-Chaplain strides purposefully to a shelf in her office. The managing director of the lifestyle magazine Prestige Hong Kong picks up a prototype of her third-anniversary issue, due on newsstands in September, and tosses the 800-page volume on her desk, where it lands with a thud. Even compared with 2007's record profits, advertising for the first quarter of the year is up 41 percent. "Things are very good," says Lim-Chaplain, "The rich will always be a good bet."
Lifestyle magazines—slickly produced publications catering to the wants and desires of the wealthy elite—are flourishing in a global media environment where little else is. Every few days, a lifestyle glossy is born somewhere. The large-format, highly stylized books that typically focus on clothing and consumption have even lured some unusual punters to the table. Suffering severe advertising declines in its regular pages, the formerly staid Wall Street Journal will launch its much anticipated WSJ. magazine in September, following the successes of the New York Times' T Style and the Financial Times' How to Spend It.
This passion for fashion and other frivolities is, of course, as much about publishers' bottom lines as about hemlines. No one loves disposable income more than an advertiser. "There is growth in these magazine markets, coming from a low base, especially in India and China," says Vivek Couto, head of research at the boutique consultancy Media Partners Asia. Compared with general-interest publications, lifestyle magazines offer a more efficient dispersion of the ad dollar. "It's like pay television," says Couto. "Niche makes sense. You are targeting a top-scale consumer with good purchasing power."
Glossies also benefit greatly from the kinds of advertisers they attract. While many brands moved much of their marketing money to Web-based campaigns and television, luxury companies have remained fiercely loyal to published products. According to The Nielsen Company, the international data-research group, the $150 billion luxury industry invests 22 percent of its total advertising budgets in newspapers and an overwhelming 76 percent in magazines. The tactile nature of the glossy magazine remains the ideal vehicle for an industry built on exquisite craftsmanship and sensual experiences. "You have to feel and touch luxury," says Lim-Chaplain. "Our magazines are oversize, filled with beautiful pictures, beautiful people. It shouts luxury."
Critics argue that the glossies are so beholden to advertisers that they have lost any semblance of editorial independence. "It's not even as if there is a line that keeps getting crossed," says author Toby Young, whose experiences as a young staffer at Vanity Fair prompted him to write the bestselling memoir "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," due out as a film in October. "There is no line."
It's a complaint that doesn't particularly keep lifestyle editors up at night. Barrie Goodridge, the chief executive of Edipresse Asia, a local unit of the Swiss media giant that publishes 10 different Asian editions of Tatler, says the close bond with advertisers is more organic than dictated. "I don't tell my editors what to write but the DNA of the magazines is positive spin," he says. Peter Comparelli, editor of Prestige Hong Kong, says that he aims to uphold the standards of fairness, quality and good design, but believes readers understand who butters his bread. "There is a lot more influence from clients because that is the nature of the beast," he says. "There is some blurring and I think readers know what is going on."
Hong Kong, home to 7 million, is one of the region's biggest advertising markets and is served by no fewer than four English-language magazines focused on high society and high living. In the 12 months ending in March, 49 luxury brands tracked by Nielsen spent $66.9 million in advertising in Hong Kong—29 percent more than in the previous year, thanks to new companies entering the market and more-established players spending more on advertising. "Our readers want to feel like part of the luxe lifestyle, the A-list," says Comparelli. Half-jokingly he adds, "We have a rule: we don't feature cars that a Prestige editor can afford." The approach is paying off handsomely: this month Comparelli's publication, which has a circulation of 30,000, offers 328 pages of beautiful frocks, as well as articles on recent soirées, the new Mercedes sedan and fine wines.
What lifestyle publishers ultimately serve up is an integrated marketing opportunity that goes beyond their magazine pages. Goodridge likens the Asia Tatler group to a club, citing the annual ball that each edition throws for clients and socialites, as well as the private events for automakers like Rolls-Royce and Jaguar that the publications host. The group is enjoying a 25 percent annual rise in revenues across Asia; in five years, Edipresse aims to triple its portfolio of lifestyle magazines. What print media crisis? Clearly, in this genre, growth is not just a luxury, it's a way of life.
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/137491
artinfo.com: Chinese Contemporary Art
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27319/hong-kong-sales-prove-chinese-contemporarys-potency/
artinfo.com: Hong Kong Auctions
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27319/hong-kong-auctions-prove-chinese-contemporarys-potency/
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