No. 5

Qi Zhilong, one of the leading artists of the post-1989 Chinese Political Pop, was born in Hohhot, Mongolia in 1962. Since first achieving recognition in 1994, Qi has quickly become one of China's most successful young artists. His portraits of young Chinese women dressed in military uniform have attracted significant attention to the extent that one version was illustrated on the cover of the seminal Mahjong catalogue of the Sigg Collection. In this ongoing series of unnamed portrait paintings, Qi presents his models, often an actress, star or other celebrity in a large shoulder height format once reserved solely for portraits of Chairman Mao. In these gentle yet paradoxically powerful images Qi aims to illustrate the relationship between the history of the revolution and the kitsch culture surrounding China today.

"By painting models of today in uniforms reminiscent of revolutionary ideologies, Qi blends cult nostalgia for Mao with present-day consumer attitudes. The uniform--it is intentionally not the Mao suit, and the cap does not feature a red star-becomes a double symbol, both of the power of communism and the appeal of neo-liberalism. Qi Zhilong's portraits are in fact an expression of the dilemma of the new China's 'Chinese-style socialism' oriented towards a market economy" (M. Panchaud in Mahjong - Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, exh. cat., Bern, Kunstmuseum, 2005, p. 150).