Mao (Facing Forward)

Creator(s)

• Wei-Wei AI 艾未未

Preview

Date

1986

Format

Photograph

Exhibition Event Title

Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei

Date of Exhibition Event

December 11, 2015 - April 24, 2016

Location of Exhibition Event

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Materials

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

92 × 76 in / 233.7 × 193 cm

Description

Mao (Facing Forward) is an oil painting created by Ai Weiwei in 1986 during his time living in New York. The painting depicts Mao Zedong, the former Chinese leader, in a style resembling the official leader portraits circulated by the Chinese government during the Mao era. Perhaps inspired by Andy Warhol’s portraits of Mao, Ai reinterprets this widely recognized political image by covering it with horizontal stripes similar to corrugated metal or television signal interference, reshaping this official visual representation of a political authority. (Source: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/ai-weiwei-mao-facing-forward-1) (Yida Du '29)