My first artwork is Chairman Mao Visits a Homemade Blast Furnace designed by Zhou Xuefen and Yin Quanyuan.  It was created in November of 1958 and depicts Mao Zedong the then Chairman of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) watching some people use a homemade furnace.  This piece was created for the Communist Party during the first year of the Great Leap Forward, a plan to increase industry and agriculture to hopefully compete with Great Britain.  Homemade blast furnaces were utilized during the Great Leap Forward to smelt metal in peoples homes for steel.  In this image Mao is seen as an everyman who like everyone else is helping to smelt objects down for steel.  This can be personified by the slacks and being close to the workers.  This image is also shows hard work from by the sweat rags around two peoples neck and the smoke coming from the furnace.  These ideas of heat and sweat are a symbol of hard work. This work also goes to show Mao as a cult of personality with the crowd of people behind him staring and are seemingly amazed by his hard work.  One of the reasons for the Great Leap Forward is the idea of keeping up with the western powers so one of the details in the image is the graph that show significant increases.  This goes to show how successful the Great Leap Forward is even if the graph growth is not happening in the real world this piece of propaganda will make it seem like smelting is good for the economy and therefore China.  We know now that the homemade smelting of personal items never really increased the progress of China.  The cartoonist imagery makes it easy to digest for an average person and will get them to support the CCP just like Mao is doing.  While this image may depict a thing Mao actually did it may exaggerate how much he did.

Works Citied

Quanyuan Yin, & Xuefen Zhou (1958). Chairman Mao Visits a Homemade Blast Furnace. Chineseposters.net. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://chineseposters.net/posters/pc-1958-007

J., Andrews (2012). The art of modern China. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb32156.0001.001.

M., Chiu, & S. T., Zheng (2009). Art and China’s revolution. Asia Society.

The Last Banquet by Zhang Hongtu is a perfect example of what Zhang aims to do with his art by placing Mao Zedong into ironic and almost laughable situations. This painting depicts Mao Zedong as every character in a copy of the painting The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. In the Da Vinci original, Jesus sits with his disciples at a long banquet table. Jesus has his arms out and open towards the viewer. He faces directly outwards while his disciples gather in two groups around him and talk and look at each other. Behind the table are three windows that show the world outside, Jesus is centered in the middle window. 

In Zhang Hongtu’s copy, he masterfully changes specific aspects of the painting to make a completely new narrative and also morph the European image into a Chinese one. Firstly, Mao plays the part of both Jesus and his disciples. All of the Maos wear the same shirt but in different colors, a classic workman’s shirt with a red collar. And like Jesus in the Da Vinci, the center Mao sits with his hands outstretched and looking directly towards the audience. He also sits in the center window of three paneled windows, but instead of a view of a blue sky, we see traditional Chinese paintings. On the table, they eat bowls of rice with chopsticks, instead of bread and wine.

In an interview with Zhang Hongtu at Michigan University, Zhang said he first saw The Last Supper when he was 14 years old, and he liked the storyline. He remembers the story as Jesus saying: “one of you will betray me.” So, in this painting, Zhang says that Mao asks “who will betray me?” Zhang continues to describe the irony of the painting as the fact that Mao Zedong never criticized himself but always criticizes other people. (A Conversation)

I personally love this painting because it really shows Zhang Hongtu’s sense of humor and his attention to detail. He has fun with his art while also criticizing important social and political topics. My favorite part of his paintings are the traditional Chinese paintings in the windows.

Bibliography:

(1) Zhang Hongtu, In Between East and West Zhang Hongtu in Conversation with Martin Powers

Sky Ladder is a performance art piece by Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, known for his use of gunpowder in his art. The performance was first executed in 2012 in Sanxingdui, China, and then later in other locations such as Havana, Cuba, and Los Angeles, California.

The performance consists of a ladder which is made of metal rods and is attached to a balloon filled with helium which rises as the ladder is lit on fire. The result of this masterpiece of a display is a beautiful and ephemeral display of fireworks in the sky. This created a visual representation of a ladder, which was completely on fire, on its way to the heavens.

Cai Guo-Qiang’s use of gunpowder in his art is rooted in Chinese culture and history. Gunpowder was actually invented in China and has been used for centuries for both military and artistic purposes. Cai uses gunpowder to create large-scale installations and performances that explore themes of cultural identity, globalization, and the relationship between nature and humanity.

Sky Ladder is a particularly poignant example of Cai’s use of gunpowder, as it represents a universal human desire for transcendence and connection to the divine. The ladder is a symbol of progress and ascent, and was made even more powerful by its temporary and fragile nature. As the ladder burns away and disappears into the sky, viewers are reminded of the impermanence of life and the need to embrace the fleeting moments of beauty and connection.

Sky Ladder is a stunning and thought-provoking work of art that highlights Cai Guo-Qiang’s unique artistic vision and his ability to merge traditional Chinese cultural elements with contemporary artistic practices. By creating a literal ladder to the heavens, Cai invites viewers to consider their own relationship to the divine and to the larger universe around them.

Picture/info

Jaworowski, Ken. “Review: Fireworks in “Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang.”” The New York Times, 13 Oct. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/movies/sky-ladder-the-art-of-cai-guo-qiang-review.html. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

More info/great film

Macdonald, Kevin . “Watch Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang | Netflix Official Site.” Www.netflix.com, 14 Oct. 2014, www.netflix.com/watch/80097472?trackId=14277281&tctx=-97%2C-97%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C80097472%2CVideo%3A80097472%2C. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

‌

Propaganda in China was widely used as a tool for the people in power to make themselves and their beliefs look better and there by making more of the populace support what they want.  Propaganda was used by the CCP and the KMT during the Chinese Civil war and was used during the Second Sino-Japanese War to invoke patriotism to the Chinese people.  During the creation of the Communist China and in the years that followed propaganda was used to show the western nations in a more negative light and show the success of their own programs.  The image I chose was of the Long March this is supposed to inspire the people and make them support the Communist movement.

Landsberger, S. R. (n.d.). The Long March (1934-1935). Chineseposters.net. Retrieved April 10, 2023, from https://chineseposters.net/themes/long-march

McCarty, M. (n.d.). The historical roots of Chinese Communist propaganda – Baylor University. Baylor. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php?id=19565

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/

Cai Guo-Qiang was born December 8th, 1957 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. From the years 1981-1985 Cai Guo-Qiang trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He developed a style of working with gunpowder and practiced his work over a span of 9 years within his hometown Quanzhou. These shows are usually site inspired and the beautiful display brings out the connection between nature and society. Not only does he work with gunpowder, but his work expands between multiple artistic mediums which include drawing, painting, installation, video, and performance art. His hard work and dedication to perfecting his art style has rewarded him with plenty of awards such as his most prominent coming in 2012, when he was honored as a Laureate for the prestigious Praemium Imperiale in the painting category. The award was bestowed by the Japanese royal family and recognizes lifetime achievement in the arts across categories not covered by the Nobel Prize. This is just one of the many prestigious awards Cai Guo-Qiang has received throughout his time. Cai Guo-Qiang is still working hard today as he is still winning awards as well as holding his own solo exhibitions. 

Bibliography:

(“ABOUT the ARTIST • Cai Guo-Qiang”)

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Picture Cited:

https://images.app.goo.gl/jKYwUagbCMXVwpb28

I am Athanasia and I am an international student from Greece. I am in my senior year majoring in Studio Fine Arts with a concentration in sculpture and digital art. I work for the Arts & Exhibitions department on campus and would like to focus on art-handling work and personal projects in the future. A few of the things I really enjoy spending my time on is doing arts and crafts with my housemates, cooking greek food for my friends and solving sudokus. I also love spending time in the wood-shop which is where I am working on my thesis project for the senior show in May. Last term I took intro to Islamic art and architecture with professor Matthew and we covered some Chinese materials and techniques which I found really interesting and I also took a modern Chinese literature class in the fall which introduced me to the social and political world of China in the 20th century which is why I decided to take this art history course.

Hi, my name is Julian Kalmanoff and I am a freshmen. I am currently undecided on my major but I have considering history, science, or art. Some of my hobbies are listening to music, playing video games, watching shows, and travel. Some of the games I have been playing recently are Assassins’ Creed IV Black Flag and Minecraft. Below I have added a picture of my favorite place I have visited, Tinges in France.

Hello Everyone!

My name is Sadie:) I’m an Art History and Chemistry ID major, and I also have a minor in Spanish. My dream is to go into art conservation. I grew up in NYC, but right now I live in Yonkers, NY. I also love to read, listen to music, and play the guitar. I am such a foodie, I love to cook and eat. My favorite season is spring, and I love being outside. And, I’m super excited for this class! I used to volunteer at an Asian art museum called the Rubin, but I have never actually studied the subject.

This is me in my favorite place in the world: York Beach Maine!