Ah! Secretary Pork-Liver Monster, Save the Country, Save the People, Prevent People From Being Heartless
Liao Guohe
廖国核
Production date
2011
Object Detail
Media
acrylic on canvas
Measurements
65 x 80 cm
Notes
Liao, who generally refuses to be drawn into discussion of his intended meanings, says that his works consist of ‘some lines, some words, some with more words, some with less...’ He is being deliberately disingenuous — his paintings reveal the anger felt by many in a world where small people are powerless in the face of monstrous greed and corruption that syphons wealth into the pockets of the mega-rich. Ah! Secretary Pork-Liver Monster, Save the Country, Save the People, Prevent People From Being Heartless (2011) sounds like a version of a Communist slogan. The title has also been rendered as ‘Ah! Secretary Ractopamine…’ Ractopamine is a synthetic drug fed to meat-producing livestock that has been found in pork exported from the USA to China; it is used to make the meat leaner — more muscle equals greater profit. The mysterious floating object in this simple composition may be intended to be the aforesaid pork liver monster, or may instead be rudely scatological. There is a compelling urgency to this and other works emphasised by the rawness of their execution.
Accession number
2012.061