Zhang Hongtu grew up as a Muslim in China and was a young boy during the cultural revolution. Unfortunately, because of his religion, him and his family suffered great consequences under the communist regime. In an interview, Zhang described Mao as getting rid of every religion and holding up one god, himself. So Zhang’s religion was erases

In the 1960s, Zhang studied art in Beijing. He continued studying until until 1973 because that was the very heart of the cultural revolution. He moved to New York City to continue his art studies in 1982.

Zhang’s childhood as a young Muslim in Communist China greatly affected the art that he creates. He was classically trained, and even studied wall pantings in the Magao Caves. However, he mainly works in “pop art” and creates sarcastic or ironic representations of Mao himself, or Mao’s China. He plays on the Chinese propaganda art that artists and intellectuals  were forced to create, and morphs this propagandism art into a statement. Also, a lot of his work reflects his experiences as an immigrant in New York.

In an interview, Zhang said that an artist that he likes and looks up to is Marcel Duchamp. He said it wasn’t even because of his art, but because in art school in China, Zhang was taught that Duchamp was inarguably “bad.” He described that moment as when he started to question art in China and his freedom to create it.

Right now, Zhang Hongtu is 80 years old and boasts a incredible career of over 90 works of art. He still lives in New York, and he is still working.

Sources:

https://queensmuseum.org/exhibition/zhang-hongtu/

https://www.tinakenggallery.com/en/artists/37-zhang-hongtu/biography/