Wang Guangyi (b. 1956) is best known for his work that explores the Chinese Cultural Revolution through the lenses of propaganda. The Chinese artist knows how to marry a juxtaposing couple, politics with commercial ingenuity, which makes him an eminent figure of the "Political Pop" movement. Guangyi´s main work is “Great Criticism”, a series of paintings that explore commercial society and comment on the invasion operated by imported Western commodities on the traditional Chinese culture.

His oeuvre blends together the aesthetics of revolutionary images and consumer logos and becomes an unmistakable commentary on the narratives of political, economic, and social policies as well as an ideological criticism of globalization. While it is true that Western influence is a reality in contemporary Chinese art, it is equally true that Guangyi´s style keeps an instinctive distance from Western art, whose motives are incorporated while "Chinese". As an artist, he also felt himself to be entrusted with a mission: to bring his country on the international art scene - an ambition that soon made his name part of the history of contemporary Chinese art.

Wang Guangyi

Wang Guangyi repurposes historical Chinese propaganda into paintings that poke fun at the intersection of China’s communist history and the rise of Western influence.

Wang Guangyi repurposes historical Chinese propaganda into paintings that poke fun at the intersection of China’s communist history and the rise of Western influence. Associated with Political Pop, Wang is best known for his “Great Criticism” series (1998), which includes works like Great Criticism - Louis Vuitton and Great Criticism - Coca Cola, where he juxtaposes red and yellow Mao-era posters with branded symbols, invented serial numbers, and Wang’s own captions (“No!”). An early affiliate of China’s ’85 New Wave Movement, Wang helped usher in the era of contemporary Chinese art and was among the first Chinese artists to co-opt Mao Zedong iconography in his practice.

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“ When creating a work of art, one’s head is full of these historical considerations; an encounter with what has been and its entry into the process of rectification. „

—Wang Guangyi