MAO van OEL

MAO, 500x200cm, mixed media on canvas.

Face of Mao is, I believe, one of the most interesting and controversial face that ever exist. This face has a father figure quality, make you feel safe. But in the end, his face also assures us to never believe what we see, or 'seeing is believing' is really an unwise strategy. Who will expect that this face has an incredible story within, Mao is number one person in charge during China Cultural Revolution, his policies and political purges in the first decades of the People's Republic are widely attributed to the deaths of between 40 to 70 million people. Hm, outnumbered Prince Dracul and all Vampires scores. Don't you think? 

His power press his people into many dramatic stories, and I think it's a blessing in disguise for all Chinese artists. Whatever painful paint they create on canvas now, will be amazingly so powerful, because every suffer and pressure that they had will burst out from their work of art. Whenever we see their artwork, our knowledge about Mao history automatically gather and color our judgement, the drama begins, then the artwork price will take off to the sky.

Compare Chinese artwork with other artworks from prosperous country. If you can find the same picture (let's say, flower), Chinese's will have more tragic feeling, and therefore will be more precious. 

Anyway, I saw a Dutch artist, Walter van Oel (lives in Bali, Indonesia) exhibition O House Gallery Plaza Indonesia Jakarta. He paints a face of Mao into a sense of pop art, dimension 5x2meter, mixed media on canvas. He plays the canvas' surface with reflective metallic and matted technic, we need to move to the right or left to find a complete face of Mao. (www.ohousegallery@gmail.com)