Gia, A Punk Artist

The girl I would talk about this time has already gained her fame in the world early at the end of last century. But now she is still striking hard to explore a foothold with her own characteristic in the Chinese contemporary art scene.

It is Gia (Wang Yue), the girl who has graced the cover of American "Newsweek" as the representative of China's first female punks in 1999, and for twice from then, appeared at the same cover page with the portrait of Chairman Mao and president Nixon. This year, she is also nominated as one of the 40 heroes who make Beijing great by "Time Out" .

Despite of her glory in music, I am gonna talk something people may not know about Gia and her deep-hidden art talent.

Gia started her initiatory drawing learning when she was only three years old. She was enrolled into the art class of Beijing Children’s Palace at six, and later entered a middle school specilized in fine arts. It was also in the middle school she came to reach rock music. After middle school, she established her first band "Hang On The Box" with her classmates. And at the first school year of her college, she gave up art study and finally devote herself to the rock music. The band later signed a contract with a Japanese agency and gradually been popular abroad with their eccentric clothing and make-up as well as their fantastic music.

Never betraying her potential love in art, recently she finds some inspiration of art creation in music. She names it "soundpainting". (It is different from Perry Hall's "sounddrawings", which are images of sound waves moving through paint.)

Images below are paintings inspired by the music of two early foreign bands "ESG" and "NEU!". “ESG” can be traced back to the 70’s to 80’s Now York, frequented in art events organized by Andy Warhol.

While “NEU!” is from Germany, a well-known experimental avant-garde, characterized in Kraut Rock, with a sense of cold abstract.

This one comes from inspiration of the most popular experimental noise pioneer “EN” in Germany. The band owns a name translated as “collapsed construction”, expressing cold sense of mechanism and steel construcion. The sound equipment made by the band themselves weighs tons, often toss a big hit to the live.

In virtue of her good sense and comprehension of music, Gia transfers a wonderful world we can hear with ears to a fantastic world we can see with eyes by employing paint and canvas. It is a bit like the visible effect of media player.

And here goes some of her most favorite ones which she suggests to my blog.

“I Want” comes from the memorial edition of lomo for the band “white stripes”, recently released in 2008, which Gia is quite desirous of, but hasn’t got yet.

“I Miss” is to recall her most favorite soft drink “Lemon CC” during the band’s first itinerant show to Japan in 2001. As for the artificial wool, it is a indispensable part of Gia’s life and her unique expression.

Some selected sets have been exhibited in the M-ART show of Modernsky Music Festival. Another two new sets created in 2008 would be included in “The mARkeT : New Year Gift” open soon at this Christmas Eve in Beijing Center for the Arts at the Legation Quarter. Recently, this enthusiastic girl shows much interest in visual art.

There is a motto in Gia’s blog. (gia.blogbus.com)

“We are the middle children of history
With no purpose or place
We have no great war and no depression
Our great war is a spiritual wars
Our great depression is our lives”

Disbanding “Hang On The Box” last year, Gia refounds a new band in 2008 with a sharp name “Girl Kill Girls”. She is gonna be absorbed more in the music itself.

Currently, the real depression comes to us. Hope Gia and her girls will grasp more from this personal experience and make their music and art to the excellence.

Image copy rights reserved to the artist.