East Meets West (1984)

Tseng Kwong Chi 19501990 was part of an intimate circle of artists Keith Haring Kenny Scharf and Cindy Sherman among them who took center stage in the New York art world during the 1980s As a HongKong born Paristrained artist Tseng viewed himself as a citizen of the world and eschewed labeling himself or his art as Chinese However his ironic selfportraits posed in a Mao suit in front of American landmarks found their way to Communist China and were profoundly influential for Chinas avantgarde including conceptual artists Song Dong and Zhang Huan who were exposed to Tsengs images through western magazines smuggled into the country in the 1980s Tsengs photographs not only satirized relations between the United States and its emerging rival China but also broadcasted his freedom of movement a privilege denied most Chinese artists at the time