Gao Zhen, who lives in the United States, was sentenced on Tuesday. The artist, internationally known as a member of the artist duo “Gao Brothers”, was arrested in August 2024 while visiting family in China. He has been held in the custody of the authorities ever since.
According to his wife Zhao Yaliang, the artist’s sentence was announced by the Sanhe People’s Court in Hebei Province, northern China.
The charges against G. Zhen relate to artworks that the Chinese authorities consider offensive to revolutionary figures. One of them is the 2009 sculpture “Mao’s Guilt”, which depicts the former Chinese leader and creator of the modern Chinese state kneeling and regretting his actions.
In another series of the artist’s works, “Miss Mao”, Mao Zedong is depicted caricatured – with female breasts and a disproportionately large nose.
Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders organization, who is monitoring G. Zhen’s case and defending his rights, called the verdict “a very clear case of violation of an individual’s right to freedom of expression”.
According to him, the artist intends to appeal the verdict. The researcher also noted that the disputed artworks were created before the law under which G. Zhen was convicted was adopted.
The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
Amnesty International criticized the court’s decision, stating that it could become a tool to deter artists from free creative expression.
“The lengthy pre-trial detention and the eventual decision to find Gao Zhen guilty and sentence him to the maximum three-year prison term demonstrate the authorities’ determination to deter others from independent artistic expression,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China Director.
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“No artist should be criminally punished for works that question the official narrative or encourage critical reflection on history,” she added.
G. Zhen’s wife said she hoped to reunite with her husband soon and return with her family to the United States, where they had emigrated.
“I thought two years was my limit, so I was very disappointed and sad. I couldn’t breathe,” she said. The woman had prepared clothes for her husband, hoping he would be released.
Chinese courts often include pre-trial detention time in the sentence.
Artists criticized authoritarianism
The “Gao Brothers” gained fame for works exploring themes of authoritarianism and censorship. The duo emerged during a period when there was more space for artistic and cultural expression in China, and their works were exhibited both domestically and abroad.
However, in recent years, the state has increasingly tightened control over certain forms of public expression, especially those related to political figures.
In 2018, a law was adopted in China prohibiting criticism of the country’s “heroes”. This legal environment became the basis for action against G. Zhen for his artistic creations.
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