Ji Wenyu

Ji Wenyu’s paintings are defined by saturated colors and critical allusions to Pop art. Juxtaposing propagandistic depictions of heroic workers with Western advertisements, the work suggests that consumerism has replaced Communism as the driving force of Chinese society, mocks the vulgarity of China’s burgeoning middle class with a humorous sensibility. Since 2003 Ji has also collaborated with his wife Zhu Weibing on textile-based sculptures, including a sculptural installation comprising dozens of businessmen holding enormous flowers, which the artists claim have no particular association but can symbolize prosperity, power, or any characteristic one wishes to project on to them. Reminiscent of flowers featured in Cultural Revolution propaganda, they are familiar images to the Chinese, but in this context they hint at the country’s new consumerist ideals.