Wang Guangyi

Littman Projects, Basel
Christa Schübbe Gallery, Düsseldorf
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Basel, Littmann Kulturprojekte, Wang Guangyi, 1997

Susan Acret, Ed., Wang Guangyi: The Legacy of Heroism, Hong Kong 2004, pp. 110-111, illustrated in colour
Zhang Qunsheng, Wang Guangyi: Art and People, Beijing 2006, p. 233, illustrated in colour
Uta Grosenick and Caspar H. Schübbe, Eds., China Art Book, Cologne 2007, p. 423, no. 8, illustrated in colour (titled Great Criticism Swatch/ Coca-Cola and dated 1994)

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the red is slightly deeper and richer in the original. The illustration does not fully convey the three-dimensional nature of the work and does not show the contents inside the box, consisting of: plastic bottle of soy sauce, rusty paint brush, wooden balls and tin plates. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There are several scattered small losses, scratches and minor dents to the box. No restoration is apparent under ultra violet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Wang Guangyi's visually charged New Media: Dust Cart of Beijing's Hutong is an exceptionally rare installation extending from his Great Criticism series.  Begun in the early 1990s, The Great Criticism series (quickly termed "Political Pop") took figures from socialist propaganda posters and juxtaposed them with foreign commercial logos.  Referencing his cultural memory, Wang gives logic to the dynamic cultural shifts and tensions from his experiences of a modernizing China through his art. When a series of Wang's Great Criticism paintings were displayed at the 45^th Venice Biennale in 1993 and the 23^rd International Biennial of Sao Paolo (1994), the significance of the artist's work was met with international recognition.

 

The slightly modified dust cart is painted with iconography of two resolute workers appropriated from Chinese Socialist propaganda posters and framed with Western logos of Coca Cola and Swatch. The figures echo back to the idealized workers and peasants striving towards a better China during the Cultural Revolution. Wrapped along the edge of the right side onto the back of the cart is a cartoon bubble inscribed with the letters "NO" seeming to protest socialist ideology or Western consumerism, or both. The installation explores the relationships between socialist propaganda and global consumerism and uses the dust cart as a meeting point to examine this cultural reality in China. 

 

With the advent of Deng Xiaoping's Open-Door policy coupled with the belief that individuals should pursue wealth in the 1980's, a flood of multinational companies and brands ushered into China creating a space for clashing ideologies of socialism and capitalist consumerism to coexist.  Wang inscribes on his cart in Chinese, "Dust Cart No.6: For the use of Chinese and foreign ads, this cart travels widely and has a large surface area for promotion and allows your product to be known by everyone.  Contact Number is 86-10-688-71663."   The dust cart's dual function points to a deeper contradiction of its own existence in the 1990s when rapid demolition of old hutongs (small alleys) occurred to make way for modern buildings housing the very companies the cart solicits to promote.