Gao Fan
About

A work of art provides both artist and viewer with two types of completely different experiences. This work is for the viewer a process of appreciation and it is for the artist a process in which his or her individual experience is converted into a public experience. My work is for me either an exploration of life or a way to grasp my time. I am able to represent knowledge and wisdom through my work while it is also a form of discipline.

My work in its first stage was triggered by several issues. What caused me to be what I am? On what basis, do I judge if an event is right or wrong? How do I think that an object is beautiful or not beautiful? These questions mattered in my early work.

One day suddenly I realized the power of sculpture. Afterwards, I could understand the relation between regulation and media and realized the contradiction between the traits of paper medium and digital medium. My early work was elementally based on my perception of the contradiction between the discipline system represented by students and their parents and the electronic system represented by the Internet and smartphones.

I made efforts to solve these consistently arising questions. How should we live in the era of irresistibility? How should we accept this situation? What is art’s cultural mission and historical responsibility in our time? Should art pursue lofty spiritual values or convey the wisdom for survival? I think my work has to be something more open than ever. What I have understood and experienced in life such as life, time, wisdom, emotion, and philosophy are intermingled in my work.

I want to do work that truly touches my heart. I regard the process of creating artworks as discipline. Thus, each stroke is to cultivate my mind and enlightenment is documented in painting. When I do this, I might gain the sympathy of more viewers. Everyone living in their age leaves their mark on history. I hope you could find something in common through my work.

We tend to be utterly indifferent to and cold toward our surroundings since we remain confined to some circumstance. Our body senses are blunted by convenient machinery. We are less concerned with people around us as communication by devices such as smartphones and the Internet has rapidly evolved and become the norm. Everything has urged us due to a swift shift from industrial society to the information age. We tend to ignore the significance of tactlessness and consistency as we try to take a shortcut for a success and be faithful to instant feelings. Beautiful classics, authentic feelings, and lofty ideals can be attained when we discard our impatient attitudes. We will be able to live a healthy lifestyle when we shed our coldhearted demeanor and our belief in almighty speediness caused by industrialization and informationization.

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#Gao Fan
Career
1987 Born in Sichuan, China
2011 Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Bachelor of Fine Arts, Oil Painting
2014 Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Master of Fine Arts, Oil Painting

2011 Moved into the Art Studio of Tank Loft, Chongqing Contemporary Art Center
Witness, Tank Loft, Chongqing Contemporary Art Center
Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Graduate Students Exhibition
2012 Awarded the E-Land Scholarship for Creation
2013 Lovely Summer View (夏木可人)
Experimentalist Narratives, the 20th-term Oil Painting Exhibition
Blue & Yellow (悦色青黄), Joint Art Exhibition by 100 Outstanding Young Artists
Chongqing Young Artists Biennale
2014 Awarded the E-Land Scholarship for Creation
2015 Perspectives toward the Future, Three-person Exhibition, Milal Fine Art Museum
2016 Transition in the City, Shanghai Young Artists Biennale