Zhou Yan Contemporary Chinese Art Archive 周彦当代中国艺术档案
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Date
1993
Format
Film
Materials
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
120 x 150 cm
Group/Movement
Against a red-yellow background, two prominent figures pronounce themself out by very economical black outlines. The figures seem to be caught in the moment of literary/artistic creations: one figure holds a caricatured pen in right hand while the other holds a paint brush. Numbers (like "23" and "25" in white and black scatter all around the composition. By the bottom verge of the canvas, A logo of dutch brewing company "Heineken" is inserted at the bottom left corner, integrating itself into the backdrop for the figures. "Great Criticism" was an extended series WANG worked from 1990s to 2007. In 2007, WANG put a halt on the series, claiming that the series' success would distort and smudge the work's meanings. One major attempt of this "political pop" artwork was to liberate "art" from its exclusive, esoteric high throne, and to further avail it to general public. WANG in the work cited two of such practices in art trend -- across the globe -- "Cultural Revolution" propaganda art (in China) and Commercial Pop art (in the United States). A resonance of cross-cultural artistic movements is reflected in WANG's citations. (Wang, 王广义《大批判》系列作品, available on https://m.sohu.com/n/452112377/?wscrid=32576_3); see also (Wang, Artist Note: on "Great Criticism" 关于“大批判”的想法, 1996, available on ZHOU Document). (Jerry Wu'23).
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