Feng Zhengjie is a Chinese artist who gained public recognition during the mid-1990s. His artistic style incorporates elements of revolutionary art, popular culture, and commercial fashion trends, which he employs a two-dimensional, anti-painting manner to express themes familiar to the public. The manner in which Mao Zedong has been depicted in the portrait, Kitsch Mao in Red (Lot 2369) is identical to the portrait hanging in Tiananmen Square. However, in Feng's painting the skin and hair of Mao are of a surreal color with his lips exaggerated into a burst of vivid color. The traditional "Mao suit" is transformed to a deep red western style coat combined with a discordant green tie makes the totalitarian political leader look farcical. Kitsch Mao in Red recalls the tacky outfits of the general public at the beginning of the reform period as they had yet to develop an eye for fashion. The standard Mao Zedong bust is the product of a centralized state ideology that reinforces the image of the former Communist leader to span the throughout every corner of the nation to the masses, and he spared little effort in making himself an object for public worship. He emphasized "red, slick, and bright" as the criteria for beauty as it was believed that this criteria of beauty was easy to comprehend and was a visually pleasing form which would win him support from the masses. This is a similar approach used by the entertainment industry when they seek to increase the appeal of pop icons by presenting them in a glitzy and flamboyant manner. The smooth face of Mao Zedong in the painting is similar to the photo shopped images of pop idols seen on billboards. The lead character in the picture hopes to detach himself from reality to a state of near perfection so to receive the admiration of thousands. Feng Zhengjie points out the traits shared in common by political idols and entertainment icons as he satirises the bizarre antics in a consumerist society.