Gao Xingjian

Universally known as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000 for his novel Soul Mountain, Gao Xingjian is also an artist whose paintings are exhibited worldwide. Born in China in 1940, the multitalented Gao also excels as a critic, playwright and filmmaker. After his avant-garde plays were banned, he left China in 1987 and settled in France. Today he lives in Paris where he continues to paint and make films. This stunning book showcases for the first time over two decades of Gao Xingjian's oeuvre. Inspired by a dream-like inner-world, Daoism, the Chinese literati painting tradition and Western Modernism inform Gao Xingjian's masterful ink-wash paintings. His groundbreaking technique allows him to work with ink, the traditional Chinese medium, on large canvases. A champion of a return to painting, he remains as free from the diktats of the contemporary art market as he did from Communist censorship. Drawing from Soul Mountain and other literary works, author Daniel Bergez offers telling insights into Gao's enigmatic landscapes and figures while Sherry Buchanan's interview with the artist reveals the motivation and drive behind the artist's unique pictorial creation.