Gao Xiao Wu

Biography

Gao XiaoWu born in Sanming in south China’s Fujian province. Gao majored In sculpture in Art Academy in Xiamen before furthering his studies at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Gao's works are not only based on the lives of ordinary people living in the city, they also serve as an exploration of his own identity. Although he was born in the 1970's, his artistic creation resembles those who were born a decade later. He does not try to express ambitious aspirations that concern the country nor complains about the current situation. Instead, he is more concerned about the happiness and grief in his everyday life. He is posturing for his own aesthetic view. Gao's aesthetics fall into the generation of comics and cartoons. He is one of the representative sculptors in these new trends. His creation avoids political symbols and totem. Gao, like other 1980s artists, spontaneously returned to the nature of artistic creation, pursuing their own aesthetic display of expressing the interest achieved by content and medium.

Standard Times

The posture of Gao Xiaowu’s Standard Times sculptures is the first thing that stikes the viewer about Gao’s sculptures. Gao's work is an expression of reverence that he sees as innately Asian, and in an act similar to a genuflect, the personification of respect transcends to the motion of bending forward. Often the erect form is the norm and yet in this work, the intention of the artist manifests through the choice of the overarching form of the figures. In a similar way, the smile too serves the purpose of demonstrating congenial attitudes. The viewer though is left to ponder if this is where the interpretation stops or if the works reflect a satire on the current social-political position of the Chinese. This is still left ambigious, but whatever idea the viewer chooses to infer from the art, the result is that one is definitely moved by it.

City Dreams

Gao Xiaowu’s pieces are a reflection of modern Chinese society, and portray innately Asian behavioural norms and mental attitudes that combine to create a collective Asian identity. Where Gao Xiaowu’s Standard Times series is angular and appeals to a pleasure of visual symmetry as a set of three, his City Dreams series contains pieces that can be enjoyed both individually or collectively with its freer and more joyous form of expression through softer silhouettes. The roundness of the figures suggest content and existence in a state of complete bliss. Featuring a man in a tuxedo, a young executive in a tie and a boy of different dreams, it tells of how the pursuit of happiness occupies the mind of every city dweller; man or woman, regardless of age or social standing. Gao questions our notions of true happiness and suggests that our souls have to be enriched first before the physical body can achieve a whole sense of happiness. Gao’s pieces can be interpretated in various ways, but one thing is for certain: his delightful pieces bring a smile to all their viewers. City dwellers musing at city folk chasing their dreams.

Education

1999 Graduated from sculpture department of Xiameng art academy, Fujian province

2004 Studied at sculpture department of central academy of fine arts, BeiJing , China

Selected Exhibitions

Standard Age: Action of Sculpture, SOHO Beijing, 2004
Solo Exhibition - Standard Age: Action of Sculpture, SOHO Beijing, 2004
Exhibition of contemporary art in China and France, Shanghai, 2005
Beijing international art biennale, Beijing, 2005
Extravagant age: exhibition of Chinese contemporary sculpture, Tianjing 2005
Fiction@Love Exhibition, Shanghai, Singapore, 2006
Cheonggyecheon Arts Festival, Korea, 2006
The dawn of meaning Beijing 2006
Art Singapore2006, Singapore 2006
Chinese Art Today 2006 Exhibition, Beijing 2006
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL-EXIT-“ANIMANGA”, Paris 2007
798 Art Festival, Beijing 2007
Floating New Generation of Art in China, Korea 2007