Zheng Guogu

Zheng Guogu belongs to a generation of Chinese artists who grew up with Coca-Cola, Kung Fu movies, pop music, and video games--a generation different from the one that came of age in the uncertainty of the Cultural Revolution of the 70s, and the optimistic utopia of the 80s. It shows. Zheng has produced an astounding heavily conceptual, multimedia oeuvre that includes staged and composite photographs, digitally manipulated Japanese porn films, scribbled ink paintings, photo-collages on rice paper, installations of toys and model motorcycles, performances, and cast-iron Coke bottle sculptures. This book maps out the different aspects of Zheng's work, at the center of which is urbanism and the influence of the media in a country known for its traditional values. Featured are Zheng's prolific paintings, photographs, video installations, architecture, and calligraphy*all influenced by the artist's iconoclastic and innovative slant.