Artist: Wu JunYong 

Title: Have a leg  

Size: 60 x 35cm

Material: Paper-cut ink

Year: 2010

Donated by Wu JunYong 

Lot. SA-41

Reserve: US$6,500

Wu Junyong, born in Fujian province, 1978. 2005 graduated from China Academy of Art majored in New Media Art. He specialises in printmaking and animation, and presently teaches new media at the China Academy of Art.

His work, particularly the Opera series (Opera I, II and III) are a satirical comment on politics. Although Junyong has lived and worked most of his life in China, and never travelled until 2007, he believes these comments are true of politicians and politics worldwide, but using signs and symbols common to Chinese literature and life. To 'have a leg' in Chinese means to have an affair. What at first seem to be simplistic illustrations with a morale finger wag attached are much more complex. With absurdity, satire and a cast of reappearing characters who both play and are played as fools. It works more like a magician's trick in the European tradition of Goya - a sleight of hand to disguise what is really going on, and the truths which most agitate & unravel. 

Wu Junyong currently lives and works in Beijing and Hangzhou.