Recent Paintings by Gu Gan

Many artists of the avant-garde in China, however "cutting edge" their current styles, have an attachment to tradition. They will often return to ink painting in order to refresh their thinking and reinforce their links with their cultural source.

Gu Gan however has always remained within the ink painting medium while at the same time breaking the mould of the classical canon in order to make it relevant and meaningful to the contemporary world. He uses different Chinese scripts in the same pictorial area and, more radical still, expressionistic patches of vibrant colour, all of which represent a bold departure from the traditional black ink on white paper.

Born in 1942 in Hunan Province, Gu Gan is internationally recognized as the pioneer of the modernist movement in calligraphic painting in China. Of the figures who spear-headed the movement, Gu Gan is the youngest and has gone furthest in breaking tradition and exploiting the potential of abstract art.

The works in this exhibition show more recent developments in his style, including the use of acrylic colour, the inclusion of highly textured papers, and a continued experimentation with oil paint.

In 1998 Gu Gan was invited by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild to design the wine label for the Mouton Rothschild 1996 vintage. He is the first Chinese artist to ever have been thus honored. His work is held in the collections of museums around the world, and he currently lives and works in Beijing.