Proof of Youth 1
Cao Xiaodong
曹小冬
Production date
2008
Object Detail
Media
oil on canvas
Measurements
180 x 180 cm
Notes
Cao Xiaodong’s paintings often feature old news figures in modern Chinese history, or more precisely, China’s Era of ‘High Socialism’. Combining computer printouts and oil or acrylic paint, he screen-prints the pixelated photo onto his canvas and applies finely brushed dots over the entire surface. Instead of painting upright on an easel, Cao paints in the manner of traditional Chinese scroll or fan painting – he lays the canvas flat and uses the brush vertically. His Proof of Youth series examines the different cultural experiences of young people in the 1960s, juxtaposing an American Playboy Bunny and her Chinese counterpart, an ‘Iron Girl’ dressed in a baggy gender-neutral suit or coat – a typical clothing style for Chinese women in this time. Fusing his interest in contemporary figurative art with references to modern Chinese history, Cao represents both transcultural dissonance and a nostalgic scene that fades away along with time.
Accession number
2009.005