170 Mao Lizi (Zhang Zhunli, b. 1950)
Hesitating
undated
oil on canvas
77.5 x 77.5 cm
Collection of Lawrence Wu, New York
Mao Lizi, who was at one time a set designer for the Chinese Air Force was
a leading member of the Stars (Xingxing) group. Like Scar artists, the Stars
rejected the ideology of Cultural Revolution art, but they also rejected
the artistic forms and even the institutional structure of the Chinese art
world. Mao Lizi, whose work is often quite ironic, was unique among the
Stars for painting in a realist manner. His subjects of the period were
usually physical details of his Beijing environment that tell a psychological
story.