Tibet

Title: Banned

Frontispiece One

Gonkar Gyatso was born in 1961 in Lhasa, Tibet. He obtained a BA (Hons) Traditional Chinese Painting, at the Department of Fine Arts, at the Central Institute of Nationalities in Beijing in 1984. From 1994 -1996 he studied Traditional Tibetan painting at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archive in Dharamsala and from 1996–1997 was a guest scholar at Central St Martin’s College of Art & Design in London. At present he is busy completing his MA Fine Art at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in London.

Gonkar designed and painted “The Yarlung River”, a large-scale mural in the Tibet Reception Hall of the Great Hall of the People (parliament building ) in Beijing in 1985. He is a founding member of the “Sweet Tea House”, the first salon for modern Tibetan Artists and from 1985 –1992 lectured and taught arts at the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Tibet. From 1992–1996 he worked as resident graphic designer for the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharamsala.

His recent exhibitions include: 1997 - “Ploughing the Bright Field”, an exhibition of contemporary Bhuddist art at the Create Centre in Bristol and a solo exhibition at the Tibet foundation in London. 1998 - Group show at the Reality Room, Washington DC, USA; Summer Show ‘98 at The Walk Gallery in London; Open ‘98”, in association with the Whitechapel Open in London.