Michael Gao (b. 2002, Beijing, China) is a painter living and working in London. He explores social dynamics, estrangement, hostility, and desire, placing these themes in the ever-changing context of contemporary visual culture. Gao casts domesticated animals as a counterpoint to human tension — a figure of primal detachment amid socially coded behaviour. He uses fine airbrush techniques combined with loose brushstrokes to create realistic yet surreal compositions, flattening the space to evoke a sense of claustrophobia. With the subtle staging of dominance, threat, or exclusion, he subverts the expectation of violence and instead uses the animal as a strange mirror: instinctively present, yet curiously disconnected from the drama we choreograph around it.
Michael Gao completed a MA in painting at the Royal College of Art in 2025, following a BA at Edinburgh College of Art (2020-2024). Recent exhibitions include Mandy Zhang Gallery (London, UK), Tiderip Gallery (London, UK), TUESDAY to FRIDAY (Valencia, Spain), OHSH Projects (London, UK), and a solo exhibition with TUESDAY to FRIDAY (Valencia, Spain).
In this recent series, Gao turns to the fraught dynamic between dogs and their human counterparts, unsettling the notion of unconditional companionship. The works unfold as a sequence of snapshots in which gestures of care and familiarity give way to estrangement, marked by a subtle undercurrent of passive aggression. By inverting the romanticised owner–pet relationship, Gao reframes cohabitation as a space of mutual opacity, where moments of recognition are intertwined with indifference, miscommunication, and subtle hostility. These scenes linger in the unresolved moments, where the figures are held together not by affection, but by the obligation to remain, sharing space in the wake of an unspoken rupture.
Opens Thursday 9th April 6-8pm
