Wang Guanyi and Zhou Weihua

"The Great Criticism - Pepsi" by Wang Guangyi

Untitled by Zhou Weihua

Wang Guangyi was born on 1957 Born in Harbin, China. He lives and works in Beijing, China. The paintings of Wang Guangyi belong to the category of Chinese contemporary art termed Political Pop: work that appropriates the visual tropes of the propaganda of the Cultural Revolution, reworking them in the flat, colorful style of American Pop.

Zhou Weihua was born in 1970 in Lai Yang, Shandong Province, China. Zhou graduated from Shandong Academy of Fine Arts in 1992 and has a major in oil painting. In 1999, Zhou Weihua obtained a post-graduate degree from arguably the top art academy in China, the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing. The artist's compelling and fresh paintings have since been exhibited throughout China at museums and art expositions, in Taiwan, Singapore and Korea. And since 2006, Zhou Weihua's work has been regularly exhibited in Europe and the USA, earning him much positive international praise. With many of China's most famous living contemporary artists now in their early to mid 40s, Zhou (now in his late 30s) is considered to be one of the more established contemporary artists in China. His positive and bright portrayal of both celebrities and ordinary people is a refreshing contribution to the Chinese art scene.

The 2 works share a similarity is holding Pop-Art elements in the visuals. For Wang's work, the colours are bold and bright. Moreover, it is painted flat with bold outlines on the 3 men that appear on the foreground. On the other hand, for Zhou's work, it does adhere to less stylization with the rendering of thee figures. The portrayal of the subject matter that is the girl in the swim suit still have much definition with the use of value in shadowing and contrast. It seems to be more alike to graphic pop art.

Both works also have certain awkward juxtapositions. With the imagery of Chinese during the Cultural Revolution set on the foreground, strange enough, at the background is something we would not expect; a Pepsi signage. How do we relate an icon of contemporary and modern culture to images of the Cultural Revoultion that existed for about 3 decades ago? On the other hand, Zhou's work shows a girl clad in swimsuit with the bright blue sky behind here. I would an expansion of a scene of a beach behind her. However, instead on her right is a group soldiers of much smaller scale to show perspective, walking towards or watching what seems to be an explosion. On her left is a group of anonymous inviduals. These 2 groups of people after looking away from us, with their backs facing us viewers. What is even stranger is the people falling from the sky. They could even be jumping. I'm not sure.. but what is for sure is that they are hanging in the air. Amongst the 4 in the sky, is a dog. the other 3 are people whose backs are still facing us. this series of juxtapositions do suggests a deeper meaning to works and trigger the thoughts of the viewers. But... back to the point, the both share a similar in their use of queer juxtapositions.

Wang's work highlights the conflict between China's political past and commercialised present. Perhaps.... Zhou has these similar ideas? Wang displays the tension that China now has after transforming from a communist state to a capitalist state. it is record his though about the effect the influx of large quantities of western commondities has on chinese culture. the influx is interpretated as an invasion of western culture. as shown in Wang's own work. These ideas also seem to exist in Zhou's work. With the girl dressed in a revealing bikini and with her navel pierced, it shows how the Western culture has indeed taken it's toll in China. Who wore bikinis or had their navels pierced those few decades ago in China? It is something the chinese have grown to practise; the western culture. Zhou may even be seen to reject this influx, showing the people at the background turning their backs to the girl, as if ashamed or rejectful of her actions and "westernized ways".

The differences the works have against each other is the mood that either gives off. Wang's work seems to effuse a more affectionate nostalgic attitude to toward Mao's propagandist projects, as if they were amusing artifacts of folk history. Zhou's work, though seemingly subtle and light-hearted, seems to carry a serious connotation with his rejections for the influx of western culture.