Gao Brothers Resurrect Mao and Lenin

Beijing’s notorious art siblings Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang have created one of the largest works of the most recognizable communist figures—Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong. The Gao Brothers’ sculpture, titled “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head,” reimagines the pair with a bust of Lenin’s head and a small Mao atop it. Now on display at the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale, the stainless steel sculpture has generated considerable debate in Canada, as the brothers’ work tends to do. Often using Mao as the focus of their works, the Gao brothers repurpose history’s chief communist leaders, like their most well known work “The Execution of Christ,” which depicts Jesus in front of a firing squad, of which Mao is a member. They’ve also experimented with performance art—on one occasion, the Gaos donned Mao masks and smashed one of their sculptures of China’s former communist leader with breasts.