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Lot Essay
"Why did I paint Mao? I did so in part as a memorial to my past political life. I borrowed the method of Pop art and elements from Chinese folk art to represent an ordinary Mao in a way of resilience, a little humour, and few critical remarks, all mixed with a little admiration. I am proud that he is no longer a sacrosanct god in my paintings; he becomes an ordinary person." -- Yu Youhan
Broadly categorized as a forerunner of China's Political Pop movement, Yu Youhan's body of work is one that illustratesa an artistic versatility not limited to this movement, and his endeavors played a key role in defining Shanghai painting after China's '85 Art Movement. Combining Western and domestic "pop" forms, Yu's inspired appropriation of conventional communist imagery also has its own distinct native roots in the context of Chinese history and visual culture. Mao and the Statue of Liberty (Lot 2354) brings forth two iconic figures joined in one canvas, yet the imagery of Mao and Statue of Liberty stand for two complete utterly distinct world views, one that indexes the Chinese Communist Revolution, and the other Western democracy and liberty. At the same time, both icons have become popular symbolic figures achieving a cult-like status, which are passionately revived and rendered nearly to the status of kitsch by the growth of consumer culture in China. Yu cunningly evokes these two symbolic systems but renders their relationship ambiguous in his composition, leaving any political reading of the painting open-ended and full of ambivalence.
Similarly, in People are the Heroes of Their Time (Lot 2353) Yu's appropriation of political imagery in both title and content is neutralized by the symbolic decoration and motifs that flow from the foreground to the background of the painting. Yu fully internalized both the standardized imagery of Chinese propaganda, as well as the flattened colour fields one finds in the works of Neo-impressionist artist Paul Signac. In both paintings we see the symbolic decoration of the decorative petals representing some of Yu's interests and nostalgia in Chinese popular culture; flower motifs are commonly found in Chinese prints and on vintage consumer goods. Yu superimposes the motif and uses whirling and multi-coloured backdrop to accentuate a feeling of optimism and warmth. The collage of figures suggest mass media imagery; the canvas is markedly absent of explicitly political imagery, suggesting a new direction in Chinese Political Pop , a flattened, decorative style that plays upon contemporary posters and Chinese prints, and reflects upon the persistence of communist ideology even in an era of consumerism
Broadly categorized as a forerunner of China's Political Pop movement, Yu Youhan's body of work is one that illustratesa an artistic versatility not limited to this movement, and his endeavors played a key role in defining Shanghai painting after China's '85 Art Movement. Combining Western and domestic "pop" forms, Yu's inspired appropriation of conventional communist imagery also has its own distinct native roots in the context of Chinese history and visual culture. Mao and the Statue of Liberty (Lot 2354) brings forth two iconic figures joined in one canvas, yet the imagery of Mao and Statue of Liberty stand for two complete utterly distinct world views, one that indexes the Chinese Communist Revolution, and the other Western democracy and liberty. At the same time, both icons have become popular symbolic figures achieving a cult-like status, which are passionately revived and rendered nearly to the status of kitsch by the growth of consumer culture in China. Yu cunningly evokes these two symbolic systems but renders their relationship ambiguous in his composition, leaving any political reading of the painting open-ended and full of ambivalence.
Similarly, in People are the Heroes of Their Time (Lot 2353) Yu's appropriation of political imagery in both title and content is neutralized by the symbolic decoration and motifs that flow from the foreground to the background of the painting. Yu fully internalized both the standardized imagery of Chinese propaganda, as well as the flattened colour fields one finds in the works of Neo-impressionist artist Paul Signac. In both paintings we see the symbolic decoration of the decorative petals representing some of Yu's interests and nostalgia in Chinese popular culture; flower motifs are commonly found in Chinese prints and on vintage consumer goods. Yu superimposes the motif and uses whirling and multi-coloured backdrop to accentuate a feeling of optimism and warmth. The collage of figures suggest mass media imagery; the canvas is markedly absent of explicitly political imagery, suggesting a new direction in Chinese Political Pop , a flattened, decorative style that plays upon contemporary posters and Chinese prints, and reflects upon the persistence of communist ideology even in an era of consumerism