Huang Yongping was born in 1954 in Xiamen, located in the Fujian province which is in the south west region of China. Huang was considered one of the most recognized artists of the 1980s for his innovative, yet controversial works. His work began to be considered controversial when he started to burn his pieces when they were completed. However this unique practice of anarchic art began to put Huang in the national spotlight allowing him to travel west to Paris where he spent much of his later life. Growing up in China Huang was morphed by western philosophy, art, and teachings however as he spent more time in France his artwork began to reflect styles more typically see in the east. This allowed Huang to explore works with more politically posed messages that outraged not only the Chinese, but Americans too as he mixed the two cultures in his works showing the divide between eastern and western ideologies.