Ren Si Hong

Biography

Introduction to Ren Sihong

It is impossible to fully interpret Ren Sihong's works without 2 substantial elements. One is the political past of China and its extensive effect on artistic creation from the Cultural Revolution to current day. And secondly, it is the artist himself.

Although Chinese Political Pop Art can trace its roots from American Pop Art, the context in which the political pop works emerge is far more complex than that of the west. The Cultural Revolution, which inspired great works of political nature, was a period in history that caused great upheaval in China and Mao Zedong was synonymous with that regime. Chairman Mao is the symbol of a totalitarian regime where politics saturated all aspects of life. Essentially all the populace was affected, and this includes all forms of artistic expression.

The end of the revolution saw two distinct forms of art emerging – cynical realist art and political pop art. These works tend to be social commentaries of the past and the present. With the revolution divested of its power, Chinese artists who once created propaganda posters, willingly or coerced, were now able to express themselves in unprecedented forms. For many artists who lived through those times, the process of creation and more importantly, of satirical expressions of Mao, is a form of exorcism of that past - a means to secularise a god.

This is clearly seen in Ren Sihong sculptures and paintings of the political leader. We see Mao Zedong with an exaggerated head, smiling whilst doing a gymnastic action or with sunglasses standing to attention or even taking a nap on the ‘Red Book’. Mao is basically treated in various positions in a manner that is an obvious caricature. His paintings too have the same absurd quality to it. In the footsteps of many prominent names before him, Ren interprets ‘his’ Mao in a manner that is intimate to him. It is essential then to realise that the painter cannot be disassociated from his works. As much as his art is a critical commentary, it resonates the persona of the artist. It is more than a disengaged insight – it is a personal reaction and a reflection of the quaint and comical nature of the artist manifested through his art. Knowing this, the whimsical character of his works becomes self-explanatory.

Selected Exhibition

1993: Held a personal oil painting exhibition at the Central Academy of Fine Arts gallery.

1995: Specially selected works for the 3rd session of China’s annual oil painting exhibition.

1996: Participated in ‘2nd New Order Exhibition’

1997: ‘Shang Ye Kang Ri’ was published by Artistic Boundary Magazine. The writer: Dao Zi.

2000: Composed  ‘DaVinci Balcony’.

2003: Composed ‘An Quan Bu Sheng Chan’. The writer: Dao zi.

2004: Participated in ‘China’s Ten Contemporary Artists’ oil painting exhibition in Qingdao province.

2005: Exhibited in statuary exhibition ‘She Shi Dai’ in Tianjin.

2006: Exhibited in the ‘Beijing Artistic Literature Exhibition’ in Beijing

2005: Contributed to ‘Mao Zedong and China Contemporary Artists Exhibition’ in Beijing.

2006: Displayed in  ‘Brother” Exhibition in Beijing.

2006: Attended the “Made in China” Exhibition in Italy.

2006: Exhibition in 798 Gallery in New York   

2006: Marchina Arte contemporanea, Brescia, Italy

2007: National Art Museum - Chinese Contemporary Arts

2007: Collection exhibition in DUANLUO space gallery

2007: Contemporary Art Show, 501 Art Base Chong Qing

Mao Fills the Hollow: Artistic Repetition and the Call of the Future
Timothy Murray

What could be more appealing than the playful cool of Ren Shihong’s miniaturized figures of Mao?  As if cashing in on the POPular artistic appropriation of Mao by so many of his Chinese peers, Ren seduces his viewers with humorous clusters of knee high figures of the cultural hero, gleaming brightly in a sheen of Chinese red.  One set of smiling figures portrays Mao in various positions of aerobic exercise.  His seeming ease with the difficult tasks of daily workouts suggests the pleasure and benefit derived from regular workouts and bodily control.  Another set of figures presents a giggling Mao as the beneficent bearer of gifts to his viewers, this time dressed parodically as Santa Claus, that Western patron of childish pleasure.

Even in the sensations of cool and Pop cast by his acrylic red figures, Ren’s prodigious production makes clear that there’s a deeply serious side to his performative love of play, humor, and parody.  This stems from his strategic capitalization in form and content on the rhetorical force of repetition.  It could be said the Mao’s excessive replication in the studio of this prolific artist encourages reflection on the declining aura of this singular historical figure.