GAO Ao: Anthropomorphic Sensibility

BONIAN SPACE is pleased to announce the upcoming solo exhibition Anthropomorphic Sensibility by artist Gao Ao from May 2nd to June 1st, 2023. Curated by Cao Yu, the exhibition will feature more than twenty paintings created by the artist in recent years.

Starting from the use of color and composition, Gao Ao's works use calm and rational artistic language to evoke a gradual resonance from visual perception to emotions and thoughts. In addition, the silent still lifes in Gao Ao's works are a mixed experience of emotional entanglement with life, existence, and the outside world. These complex emotions are amplified in the scenes, still lives, and spaces, as the artist delves deep into the safe and quiet emotions of a solitary individual within the group, using a way of inwardly projecting outward to break free from the mundane and cumbersome framework of daily life.

Anthropomorphic Sensibility

I first got to know Gao Ao at the China National Art Museum at night. There was an important exhibition opening, and the reception hall was crowded with guests and media, all waiting for the speeches of many leaders to end before viewing the exhibition. That evening, I wandered around the China National Art Museum and accidentally found that a side hall was dimly lit. When I pushed open the heavy and tall copper door of the exhibition hall, I saw Gao Ao's exhibition. The China National Art Museum at night was already shrouded in a mysterious atmosphere, and the main hall was still filled with high-ranking officials giving speeches. The important exhibition had yet to open, but I was wandering and indulging in Gao Ao's paintings in the deserted side hall. After leaving the side hall, I couldn't wait to call my friends at the China National Art Museum and my teachers at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. I had to get Gao Ao's contact information immediately. Thanks to Gao Ao's master, Mr. Wang Yuping, who is both talented and virtuous, I obtained Gao Ao's contact information through his wife, Ms. Shen Ling. When I called, Gao Ao himself happened to be at the China National Art Museum...

Afterward, I began to pay continuous attention to Gao Ao and gain a more comprehensive understanding of him. I learned that he was born into a highly educated large family in Shanghai, and his cousin had a high level of accomplishment in classical music. From a young age, Gao Ao showed extraordinary talent in painting and even represented Shanghai in a joint art exhibition between China and Japan to promote friendship between the two countries. In 2002, he was admitted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts High School with the highest national professional exam score. In 2006, he was admitted to the Fourth Studio of the Oil Painting Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts with the qualifications of professional recommendation. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2014, obtaining a master's degree. During this period, he was under the guidance of Wang Yuping. In the same year, he joined the Academy of Arts and Letters (formerly Creation Center) of the China National Academy of Arts and has been engaged in full-time art creation since then. Although he transitioned from the Central Academy of Fine Arts to the Creation Academy with ease, Gao Ao still maintains his unique language style in his art creation. I always say that all of his works, regardless of the color, are gray in my eyes. Perhaps the more an only child is born and raised in a big city, and the more their parents uphold strict family traditions and harsh discipline, the more infinite loneliness they feel in their hearts, just like in his photos almost all have "stubborn eyes, mournful faces." Not only do his works contain layers of "high-class gray," but his creative content also seems to infuse a playful and cold soul.

Rather than saying that he loves to create still lives, it is more accurate to say that he creates everything as a "certain kind of still life," a kind of still life that he has imagined. Even if he paints scenes that are familiar in daily life, they are still larger-scale "certain kinds of still lifes" that are unique to Gao Ao in my eyes. The umbrellas, sofas, stairs, curtains, vases, and even theaters in his paintings are all given a certain kind, a certain type, or a certain person that we all know. There is no need to ask Gao Ao about his emotional state when creating these works because the temperament of the work is contained within the image. As a viewer, one has enough space to let their thoughts roam, and the work in front of them can be infused with any emotion that is relevant to the viewer at that moment. This also confirms that when Gao Ao talks about his works over the years, he wants to start with "color and imagery," using calm and rational artistic language to slowly evoke resonance in people's emotions and thoughts, layer by layer from visual to emotional to intellectual. In addition, the silent "certain kinds of still lifes" in Gao Ao's works are also a mixed experience of emotions that are entangled with life, existence, and the external social world. These complex emotions are amplified in the scenes, still lifes, and spaces, but more importantly, the artist delves deep into the safe and quiet emotions of a solitary individual within the group, so as to break the daily tedious and complicated framework in a way of releasing internal strength. In Gao Ao's "certain kinds of still lifes," even if the image is a bright and vibrant velvet curtain that flows like sweet syrup, it is still filled with the cold and desolate autumn night, reciting a question like a dream about the person behind the curtain, but the sea holly remains. It is precisely this kind of lonely and aloof tranquility that permeates the image with a misty and fragrant frosty moonlight, like a low hum and soft singing that gradually fades away in a light veil at dusk. Of course, the artist is not endlessly trapped in a cycle of sorrowful emotions, but the emotional state of "certain kinds of still lifes" is simply like a lazy afternoon with nothing to do and no one to disturb, a vast and desolate dusk after a dreamlike nap, or a solitary cloud of smoke that rises in the stillness of the night without needing to sort out one's thoughts. "Certain kinds of still lifes" are condensed and sparse expressions of the true self disguised as still lifes - after all, being alone does not mean being lonely, and coldness is also a kind of warmth. Being far away from people but close to the heart does not mean estrangement, doing nothing can also be a permanent state, and the forked road of inaction can lead to an endless continuation.

On long winter nights, the warmest and safest thing to do is to stay away from the noise and crowds, light a fire in the fireplace, and pick up a few books and pens, and all the loneliness will disappear! It's even better to put aside the books and pens, and leisurely contemplate while tending to the fire, coming up with a few poems that will make friends laugh. Time passes by unnoticed, infused with ancient silence, and we won't even notice it passing by with sadness. —— "Traveling in My Room" by Xavier de Maistre.

Note: Special thanks to Ms. He Xiao for her elegant translation of "anthropomorphic sensibility".

Cao Yu

Written on Grain Rain, April 20, 2023

in Xinyi Home, Dongcheng District

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GAO Ao: Anthropomorphic Sensibility: Curated by CAO Yu