Gao Brothers

The Gao Brothers use multiple media in their collaborative art. Their works include art installations, oil painting, performance, photography, sculpture and the written word. Both Gao Brothers deeply affected by their experience of living through the Chinese Cultural Revolution and developed their art in the post-Mao era. While much of their work questions the social and political state of modern China, their themes are universal as social commentary. their analysis of human spirituality, beliefs and states of mind, materialism and the place of the individual in relation to society. The Gao Brothers made their debut in 1989, at a show of Chinese avant-garde art held in Beijing and have since created a number of series of photographic and multimedia works. Nudes are central to the themes of their art, representing human vulnerability. In Sense of Space – Wake (2000) images of naked men in lifeless postures are curled up inside wooden squares and segregated from each other. This piece questions modern living standards, where people in cities living lonely lives, confined within multiple-occupancy blocks. In Echo (2002), a steel structure curves around an isolated female, placing a peaceful feminine image within the male-dominated world of machinery and construction, indicating the need for a balance of yin and yang in society. Outer Space Project Map of China (2008) shows the outline of the country as if viewed from space and made up of a honeycomb of numerous cells, populated by a huge community of individuals. The Forever Unfinished Building series continues the theme of conflict between states of mind in people of different beliefs and social backgrounds when sharing the same physical man-made spaces. The Gao Brothers have had their photographic works published in several books about the best photography and modern art in China. Their works have also been purchased for important private collections and art museums around the world.