Butterfly Effect 4
Cao Xiaodong
曹小冬
Production date
2008
Object Detail
Media
acrylic on canvas
Measurements
176 x 110 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. Butterfly Effect 4 depicts a bust shot of two young women dressed in Cultural Revolution Red Guard uniforms grinning broadly at the lens. Above them, a badge of young Chairman Mao Zedong is oddly framed by a large swallowtail butterfly, while other smaller ones fly around the main figures. Fusing his interest in contemporary painting with references to modern Chinese history, he represents a nostalgic scene that fades away along with time.
Accession number
2010.004