Untitled (Mao/Marilyn) 

Yu Youhan created this painting, titled *Untitled (Mao/Marilyn)*, which merges two iconic figures from drastically different cultural and political landscapes. Youhan came of age during China’s Cultural Revolution, so his art often explores themes of identity and cultural collision. Here, Marilyn Monroe's familiar features are reimagined with Mao Zedong’s features, challenging the viewer to confront the fusion of Western celebrity culture with Chinese communist iconography. It disrupts traditional representations by blending the personal with the political, asking us to consider the emotional and ideological complexities of cultural exchange. This work invites us to reflect on how societies construct and perceive identity through the lens of art and how individual expression can challenge dominant narratives.