Imprisoned during the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Master Jiang Gou-Xiang was placed in "Worker Camps" for 15 years during China's Cultural revolution due to his love for Western art.
Master Jiang Gou-Xiang was born in 1935 and is the founder of the school of Chinese Modern Zen oil painting and the theory of “Non-objectivity” painting. Master Xiang graduated from the stagecraft department of the Central Drama College in 1958 and was send as an art designer to the modern drama troupe in Wuhan. When the Cultural Revolution exploded in 1966 Xiang was viewed as an enemy and persecuted due to his love for western art. He was send to a machine tool plant in the countryside where he spent a decade along with all other “intelligencia”. During the 1980s, Xiang was released from his plant duties and worked as senior art designer in Guangdong Television station, until his retirement from his post as chief of design at Guangdong television. He secluded himself in the countryside to pursue his destined dream as a plastic artist, where he immersed himself in the study of Zen Buddhism for inspiration.
Xiang’s works are a unique synthesis of Zen and his visions. They attain a rich texture achieved through the concoction of recycle materials and highly aired oils. The calm and tranquility of his works present us a refreshing refuge from our pursuit of materialism and from the instability of modern society.
Xiang’s works are a unique synthesis of Zen and his visions. They attain a rich texture achieved through the concoction of recycle materials and highly aired oils. The calm and tranquility of his works present us a refreshing refuge from our pursuit of materialism and from the instability of modern society.