Guohuas (woodblock prints) were the most prolific propaganda art tool produced during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Artists created a pictorial iconography of the Maoist period with prints covering nationalistic themes produced cheaply and on massive scale, using mainly three colours: black, red and white. Artistically, these prints were influenced by the Chinese folk tradition but ideologically they adhered to strict political and propaganda requirements. Cardozo has used fake period propaganda prints, popular for their kitsch-cool, to produce traditional Chinese paper cuts. Although Cardozo has copied the visual style of Chinese paper cut patterns, she has 'pimped out' the posters with central motive logos of some of most famous major fashion labels such as Gucci, Chanel, and Prada. With this she present us with a double reflection: firstly, she calls our attention to those labels unfamiliar in China twenty year ago but which nowadays have become staples of Chinese urban consumers; and secondly, she points out the paradoxical fact that China is also the biggest centre of counterfeiting goods of those very well-known American and European fashion brands. Extract from text by Ramiro Camelo.

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