Gao Brothers were introduced to Chinese traditional art before they began their college studies. The older brother graduated from Shandong Academy of Fine Arts and the younger brother from Qufi Normal University.
The notion of "brotherhood", inspired by their own relationship, is at times embedded in their works as a message for all humanity. In 2002, the Gao Brothers left Shandong to settle in Beijing.
Their art is protean, they refuse to be limited to only one medium, what is most important is the message at hand they are attempting to convey through their work.
The Gao brothers are two Beijing-based artist brothers. Over the past 20 years and since their internationally prominent participation in the exhibition « China/Avant-Garde » in 1989 (National Gallery of Beijing), their art has reached into various mediums including photography, video, painting, sculpture, performance, with them working also as critical writers and even as exhibition curators. In their work can be seen a questioning of humanity and fraternity remaining in contemporary reality. Marked by the death of their father under the Maoist regime, engaged in demonstrations at Tiananmen square (which cost them their passports for several years), the two brothers share a critical attitude towards Chinese society.
Their works form part of the collections of the most important contemporary art museums, including: the China National Museum, the MoMA New York, the Guggenheim Foundation, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Centre Pompidou and the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Princetown University Art Museum; as well as large private collections including Steven Cohen, Uli Sigg, Charles Saatchi…