Works
The first impression given by Guo Kai’s paintings is like that of a poem, a song, or a beautiful piece of prose. Poetry in painting has always been an integral part of classical Chinese painting, and Guo Kai’s paintings are particularly poetic.
Guo Kai often finds himself lingering in historic buildings and ancestral halls. He feels that the former inhabitants of the buildings are not distant from him, and can imagine the tales of the great families or the precepts of the ancestors being handed down to him.
Exhibitions
Attachment
Guo Kai
Aug 8 – Sept 8, 2020
Yi Art Institue
Jan 9 – Mar 9, 2021
Loftyart Gallery
Faraway Breeze
Guo Kai
Sept 15 – 24, 2018
National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei
Scenery/State
Guo Kai
May 21 – June 25, 2016
Conscious Landscape
Guo Kai
May 15 – June 27, 2014
In the Prime of Vitality
Chen Yufei, Guo Kai, Huang Ming-che, Hung Tien-yu, Hsu Yu-jen, Lin Pang-soong, Ma Baozhong, Sun Liang, Wang Yigang, Yang Shu, Yu Youhan
Oct 27 – Nov 16, 2012
Journal
Distant Sounds in Autumn Woods
Catalog Entry
Guo Kai’s oil on canvas work Distant Sounds in Autumn Woods illustrates a historic cultural region known as Huizhou, situated in what is now China’s southern Anhui province and northern Jiangxi province. In late imperial times, the region produced generations of merchants who conducted trade nationwide, but spent their wealth building their native community. The large estates and ancestral halls the merchants built were installed with their values of diligence, frugality, and education.
Guo Kai, Distant Sounds in Autumn Woods (detail), 2013 © Guo Kai
Attachment · Whispers 3
Catalog Entry
Bright blooming flowers cover the foreground of Attachment · Whispers 3. Two young women in plain white clothing stand behind the flowers, holding hands in a close embrace. In examining the relation between the foreground flowers and the sitters, the picture plane appears skewed. The flowers seem superimposed onto the composition, creating a sense of ambiguity that also relate to the nature and relationship of the two young women.
Guo Kai, Attachment · Whispers 3 (detail), 2022 © Guo Kai
Faraway Breeze
Essay
“I believe a painting should be like a poem, a song, or a beautiful prose. That is why painting a painting should be like writing a poem, singing a song, or writing a piece of prose.” – Fu Baoshi.
The first impression given by Guo Kai’s paintings is like that of a poem, a song, or a beautiful piece of prose. Poetry in painting has always been an integral part of classical Chinese painting, and Guo Kai’s paintings are particularly poetic. Plain and unadorned titles, such as Spring Stream, Winter Water, Reflection of the Bridge, or Quiet Pavilion, paired with his paintings become pieces of silent poetry.
Guo Kai examines tempera paint, Hefei, Anhui, 2018. Photo: T. Chang
There is Already Truth Within, I Need Not Argue More
Essay
Conscious Landscape
Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, or Life in the Woods is recognized as his greatest literary classic on natural living. With his use of simple and eloquent language, Thoreau advocates a spiritual return to the basics, which strikes at the very heart of the materialistic nature of modern society. Centuries later, Walden is still celebrated by those wishing to escape the mundane matters of daily life, and to once again return to nature’s fond embrace, as a hermit or philosopher.
Guo Kai, Paris, France, 2009. Photo: Courtesy of Guo Kai
Publications
Faraway Breeze
Catalog
Guo Kai Solo Exhibition
Lofty Culture & Art, 2018
© Loftyart Gallery
Conscious Landscape
Catalog
Guo Kai
Lofty Culture & Art, 2014
© Loftyart Gallery