Artwork Description

Title: McDonald's
Artist: Zhong Biao
Date: 2004
Medium: Charcoal and oil on canvas
Dimensions: 78.7 × 63 in (200 × 160 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
McDonald's is a mixed-media composition by Chinese contemporary artist Zhong Biao, executed in charcoal and oil on canvas. Measuring 200 by 160 centimeters, the work juxtaposes a tender domestic scene of two adults lounging on a sofa with a surreal vignette above them: children brandishing toy guns, framed beneath the iconic McDonald's golden arches. This layered imagery is rendered with Zhong’s signature stylistic tension—meticulous black-and-white figure drawing contrasted with flat, emblematic symbols in color, presenting a tableau that is both enigmatic and critically charged.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Zhong Biao is celebrated for his Neo-Surrealist visual language, characterized by juxtaposition, dreamlike incongruities, and sharp graphic contrasts. His approach recalls both Renaissance draftsmanship and the psychological density of Surrealism, fused with contemporary media critique. Drawing influence from global pop culture and domestic realities, Zhong embeds cultural signifiers—such as consumer branding and family archetypes—into allegorical scenes that challenge viewers to decipher their own interpretations. In McDonald's, the iconic fast-food symbol becomes a stand-in for global capitalism and cultural infiltration, its presence both satirical and haunting.

3. Historical Context
Created in 2004, this work emerges from a pivotal period in China’s modern history—marked by explosive urbanization, the ascendance of consumer culture, and the gradual normalization of Western capitalist imagery. The early 2000s saw China’s increasing integration into global economic systems, prompting artists like Zhong Biao to critically address the paradoxes of this transformation. Through ambiguous symbolism and social tableaux, McDonald's captures the dissonance between modernity and tradition, innocence and militarism, rest and unrest.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is reported to be in very good condition. The canvas shows no signs of warping or structural stress. The charcoal linework remains crisp, and the oil elements retain their chromatic clarity. No evidence of restoration or surface degradation is visible.

6. Artistic Significance
Zhong Biao’s McDonald's exemplifies the artist’s ability to transform mundane iconography into vehicles of existential inquiry. His visual dialectic between realism and fantasy, East and West, critiques the cultural commodification pervasive in post-reform China. A notable piece within his broader oeuvre, this work holds both scholarly and market value, reflecting a sophisticated synthesis of technique, theory, and critical commentary. As such, it offers compelling resonance for collectors of contemporary Chinese art and visual sociology alike.