Acrylic on canvas

40 × 50 cm. 15 3/4 × 19 5/8 in.

Signed in Chinese on the reverse
EXHIBITED
30-31 Jan 2016, Gold Rush, Paramount Ranch, Los Angeles

PROVENANCE
Bank Gallery, Shanghai
Acquired directly by present improtant private Asian collector from the above

Subverting Traditions and Challenging Intrinsic Aesthetics
Liao Guohe's The Party's Policy Is Good

In the year of 1978, American art critic and curator Marcia Tucker curated a manifesto-themed exhibition titled Bad Printing at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. The exhibition was created to criticize the growing prevalence of the so-called intellectual artistic aesthetic. Today, nearly half a century later, the popularity of bad paintings still perpetuates in the art market.

Liao Guohe was born in 1977. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara, he devoted himself to full-time creation. His eccentric style of painting incorporates words and phrases that echoes the characteristics of bad paintings. He conveys his observations on contemporary political, economic, social, and cultural phenomena with a touch of dark humor. His works are collected by many public and private art museums, such as Shanghai Fosun Art Center, Hong Kong M+ Art Museum, and Australia White Rabbit Gallery.

The Party's Policy Is Good depicts the starry night with deliberately impulsive brushstrokes. At the back of the painting, a black car roams on the road as it carries gold ingots. The lower part of the picture is covered in uneven light ochre colour-blocks. The five Chinese characters that reads, “the party's policy is good” sits on top of the colour-block and is accompanied by a five-star flag in the shape of a heart. The depiction is a satire on the subtle relationship between Capitalism and state policies, invoking streams of contemplations for viewers.

Price estimate:
HKD: 30,000 - 50,000
USD: 3,800 - 6,400

Auction Result:
HKD: 36,000