The value of Wang’s works—and others like them—is their ability to resist absolute clarity, instead creating a surprising tension between consumer and Maoist imagery. Without being overtly critical—refusing the tactic of direct accusation that often short-circuits more provocative discussion—Wang is able to call into question both the capitalist and communist symbols in his work, allowing us to see them as conflicting and competing precisely because of their mutual insistence on hegemony. In this way, the artist is indicating the uneasy points of confluence between China’s Maoist past and its promising economic future. These paintings suggest that resistance or protest in the visual arts is deeply dependent of the cultural context in which works are made. For while Wang Guangyi’s works may be read as a critique of China’s new economics today, they may have passed—with slight modification—for government propaganda not too long ago. It is precisely this polyvalence in Wang Guangyi’s paintings that is their greatest strength. D. Spalding, “The Paintings of Wang Guangyi: Revolutionary Acts?”, January 2006, at http://china.shanghartgallery.com.