CAI Xiaosong
b. 1964
Born in Shanghai in 1964, Cai Xiaosong graduated from the Art Academy of the Shanghai University. Trained in traditional Chinese ink painting techniques, Cai experimented with different types of art forms such as installations and oil paintings and travelled to Paris to pursue his artistic training. Rather than attending the academy, Cai travelled across Europe and in 1998 he returned to China to study Chinese calligraphy. Since 2002, Cai Xiaosong has been focussing on landscape painting and on creating subtle installations presenting the classical theme of the scholar’s rock in a new pictorial format.
Moving on from his Venice Biennale-exhibited series Planet, Cai Xiaosong continues his investigation into various cultures as seen through their appreciation of art in stone. To him, scholar’s rocks hold a unique aesthetical position in Chinese Art history, but apart from its artistic nature, this primordial reserve from Nature also bears witness to the epochs of all history.