Chinese painter Wang Guangyi is considered a forefather of his nation's new art movement, which began post 1989. After several failed attempts, Wang Guangyi finally got his artistic career off the ground when he was accepted into and ultimately graduated from the China Academy of Fine Arts. Wang Guangyi is most famous for his "Great Criticism" series of paintings. In these works, he depicts propaganda scenes from China's Cultural Revolution intertwined with brand names from western advertising. Some of these better known works include the 2005 piece 'Porsche,' and 'Materialist's Art,' which he completed in 2006. Guangyi's art has been on exhibition in a number of galleries in Europe, Asia and South America. Wang Guangyi has enjoyed significant material wealth and is considered to a millionaire. His lavish lifestyle has drawn the criticism of a good percentage of his countrymen, who believe Guangyi, along with contemporaries like Fang Lijun are nothing more than "pop masters" committed to producing pieces that will sell to the highest bidder and are not concerned about producing work with solid artistic value. However, there are others who believe brandishing Guangyi's work as "political pop" is unfair and that his work does a good job of contrasting China's past and present. (Artist website) Read Less