Mao 1-3

Creator(s)

• Wei-Wei AI 艾未未

Preview

Date

1985

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

Description

Mao 1-3 is a triptych of three oil paintings created by Ai Weiwei in 1985 during his time in New York. Inspired by Andy Warhol’s portraits of Mao Zedong, Ai uses different colors, brushstrokes, and splashes of paint to create three distorted representations of Mao, deconstructing this official image of the former Chinese leader as a symbol of political authority. According to Ai Weiwei himself, these works were some of his final paintings before he abandoned painting as an artistic medium. (Source: https://www.phaidon.com/en-us/blogs/artspace/ai-weiwei-on-how-he-became-an-artist) (Yida Du '29)