Redacting some choice words from the opening page of Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book leaves us with the statement: “If there is to be a revolution, there must be a party”. Playing with and expanding upon this notion gave Cristina de Middel the concept for her 2013 project Party. Deliberately and visibly manipulating quotations from the famous text, de Middel constructs a calculated and – at times – contorted narrative to accompany a series of photographs she took on her first trip to China. The resulting diptychs, intended to push the limits of documentary, offer a provoking take on contemporary Chinese society.
Each print is hand painted, mixed media.