For my project, I’ve elected to focus on various political posters, rather than a singular artist. The majority of the posters I will focus on will be from the Zedong period (1949-1978). I might delve into some posters shortly after the first economic reform (1978), but this would primarily just act to demonstrate the contrast between posters while under Mao and then Deng (Chow 2015).

In general, the style for these posters fall under the “western” category, which is somewhat ironic considering the aims of the Communist Party of China (which I aim to examine in my presentation). Some particular events that sparked these political posters; end of Chinese Civil War, Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, and Tiananmen Square protests (this last one I might exclude). All of these events have significant political and cultural ramifications, helping to explain why artists of the time decided to voice their opinions after these events specifically.

For my image, I included a political poster from the Huntington Archive, which had an online exhibit titled “Picturing Power” that revolved solely around Chinese political posters (particularly the Mao era). This poster is titled “New Spring in Yan’an” and helps to further Mao’s goal of deification, as he is surrounded by the people in quite a nationalist style.

https://huntingtonarchive.org/Exhibitions/picturingPowerExhibit.php

Chow, Gregory C. China’s Economic Transformation. Wiley Blackwell, 2015.