| Wang Guangyi was born on 1957 Born in Harbin, | | | | message, highlighting the conflict between China's |
| China. He lives and works in Beijing, China. The | | | | political past and commercialised present. |
| paintings of Wang Guangyi belong to the category | | | | Stylistically merging the government enforced |
| of Chinese contemporary art termed Political Pop: | | | | aesthetic of agitprop with the kitsch sensibility of |
| work that appropriates the visual tropes of the | | | | American pop, Wang's work adopts the cold-war |
| propaganda of the Cultural Revolution, reworking | | | | language of the 60s to ironically examine the |
| them in the flat, colorful style of American Pop. | | | | contemporary polemics of globalisation. |
| To understand the works of artists engaged in | | | | Through his critique, Wang's paintings weave |
| this practice, it is important to recognize the | | | | intricate narratives, implicating the role of the |
| significance and specificity of the images they are | | | | artist as an active participant (both as subjugator |
| using to fashion their work. Without this | | | | and subservient) in economic and social policy. |
| knowledge, the work of artists like Wang Guangyi | | | | Wang treads a very delicate line between moral |
| may be reduced to a mere aestheticization of the | | | | dictum and capitalist endorsement; the |
| experiences of the Cultural Revolution, a view | | | | interpretation of his paintings alternates with the |
| which threatens to limit the discussion of these | | | | subjectivity of context. Amalgamating, confusing, |
| works to their formal elements, foreclosing more | | | | and blurring opposing ideological beliefs, Wang's |
| important ideological and historical questions that | | | | billboard sized canvases readily sell out national |
| must be raised. | | | | valour, while simultaneously devaluing status |
| It is perhaps equally essential, particularly for | | | | symbol luxury for the proletariat cause. |
| Western audiences, to keep in mind the | | | | Certainly, the vast legacy of propaganda that |
| dominance that the Maoist regime held over visual | | | | resulted from this period will continue to impact |
| culture and artistic production in China from 1949 | | | | artists interested in critically examining China's |
| to 1976, a control that reached a near totality | | | | recent visual history. After all, these images were |
| between 1966 and 1972, during the Gang of | | | | more than simply popular; for a time, they were |
| Four's reign [i]. | | | | the only ones allowed. |
| Wang Guangyi's paintings combine the ideological | | | | Conclusions: |
| power of communist propaganda with the | | | | Wang Guangyi had already established his own |
| seductive allure of advertising. Juxtaposing | | | | style and the impact of the work had won him a |
| revolutionary images with consumer logos, Wang's | | | | strong reputation in Chinese art circles. |
| canvases provocate with their duplicitous | | | | What to Do Next... |