Works by Gu Xiong

Gu Xiong... Pepsi Home (2005, c-print, edition 1/5, 42 x 62 inches). From Works by Gu Xiong at Diane Farris Gallery. "...Gu Xiong is a multimedia artist and photographer originally from Chongquing, Sichuan in the People's Republic of China. In 1972, during the Cultural Revolution, Gu Xiong was sent to the remote countryside. With millions of other youths, he was forced into 're-education' with peasant teachers. He laboured in the fields under extremely primitive conditions for four years. By the light of a kerosene lantern, he started to draw the people and objects around him. Drawing became an obsession and gave him strength. After being allowed to return to the city, he earned a BFA and MFA at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute where he also taught traditional woodcut printmaking. His first link with Canada came in 1986 when he was invited to take part in an exchange program at the Banff Centre for the Arts. In 1989, Gu Xiong finally had to flee China as a result of his participation in Beijing's China/Avant Garde show and in the Tiananmen Square demonstration."