PROVENANCE:

Private collection, USA

Private collection, Taipei

This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Wang Guangyi's works are some of the most recognizable and most appreciated in the Chinese contemporary art world. Lauded as the leader of the post-1989 "Political Pop" movement, his works, while reflecting the "flat style" of American "Pop Art", resonate with a power and energy immediately identifiable with the New China. Juxtaposing iconic images from the Cultural Revolution with iconic images of Western consumerism, Wang's works are saturated in irony as he explores the absurdity of images.

Wang was born in 1956 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, and like many of his contemporaries he grew up in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution and witnessed at first-hand the power and absurdity of the cult-like worship of heroic icons. He was denied any education until 1977 when he entered the Zhejiang Academy of Art. This was the period when China first opened its doors to the West and Wang was immediately captivated by the "Pop Art" of urban American culture. He began to produce studies of ordinary people in everyday activities depicting them in, what were to become hallmarks of his oeuvre, monochromatic colors and a flat style.

During this first period of opening outwards there was a tremendous energy and excitement in the contemporary art scene especially in Beijing. All types of avant-garde art was embraced by artists, however the authorities remained very suspicious and were openly hostile to something so spontaneous and uncontrolled. 1989 was a watershed year. Two events were to have profound long-lasting effects on the Chinese art world. The first exhibition of avant-garde art was allowed at the National Art Museum in Beijing. This was a major event in such a traditional and conservative bound society. The exhibition was closed down at its opening when one artist fired a gun at her installation. The authorities warned artists that open criticism would not be tolerated and that examining society and the regime in art would be dealt with harshly. Then in June, the Tiananmen crackdown happened. For the next two years society became very quiet, and for the art world a realization dawned that "new art" would bring a fierce backlash from the authorities.

In the early 1990s contemporary art began to reappear, but gone was the open examination of society and the open expression of anguish, anger and criticism of a corrupt system. Instead artists found a profoundly Chinese way of exploring society; irony and humor. Irony was to be embraced by "Political Pop" and its leading adherent was to be Wang Guangyi. Although seemingly simple in composition and execution, as artists employed iconic images from the Cultural Revolution, "Political Pop" was in fact a deep reflection on the realities of contemporary Chinese society.

Wang Guangyi began producing his "Great Criticism" Series from which our present work comes. Characterized by the use of iconic propaganda images of soldiers, peasants and workers, the great proletariat, juxtaposed with iconic Western brand names, this series has become one of the most recognizable worldwide and brought Wang to the forefront of the Chinese contemporary art movement. Idealized images of the proletariat are taken directly from the propaganda posters of the Cultural Revolution, but with guns and other weapons often replaced by pens. Often the figures are painted against a red background powerfully evocative of both communism and spilt blood. Then, blazoned across the canvas is usually a Western consumerist brand name, which produces a hugely ironic effect, as cultural icons from two different systems sit side by side in their absurdity. Wang calls this "anatomic structuralism", which destroys the original intention of the image and instead reduces it to absurdity.

"Art Nation" is a classic representation of Wang's "Great Criticism" series. The work is filled with great tension and drama as an armed group of peasants and soldiers are placed in the centre. The serious expressions on their faces as they wield guns, bayonets and the little red book, and their forward movement create a sense of fear and latent violence. The background of red flags and black sky add to the sinister atmosphere. Then in a superbly ironic statement, "Art Nation" is blazoned across the top of the painting in the purity of the color "white". Wang has juxtaposed two human activities which could not be more removed from each other, war and art. The white arrow on the bottom right-hand corner in the same style as "Art Nation" seems to be suggesting which activity is the way forward.