Hrag Vartanian

From HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA:

On July 3, Chinese customs officers seized a painting by noted China-born, New York-based artist Zhang Hongtu, which depicts the National Stadium in Beijing, popularly referred to as the Bird’s Nest. Titled “Bird’s Nest, in the Style of Cubism,” the painting incorporates images of the stadium design; the Chinese characters for the “Sacred Olympic Torch,” “One world, One dream” (the Olympic slogan) and “Family, Joy, Happiness”; the Arabic numeral “8” in repetition; and the English words, “TIBET” and “HUMAN RIGHT.”

…Customs officials told Zhang that the painting could not enter China because it contains “unacceptable” wording, the depiction of the stadium “isn’t good enough,” and the colors are “too dark and dull.”

The painting was bound for an exhibition at the German Embassy, Go Game, Beijing!, which opened on August 6 and includes works by other well-known China-born artists such as Xu Bing and the Luo Brothers….