The art of billboards in urbanized China

In our globalized era, cities compete against each other by feeding our imagination, hopes and dreams through their aestheticized representations. Memorable skylines, iconic buildings and ambitious infrastructure showcase the nation’s achievements and pave the ground for even brighter futures. Maintaining that cities are not only geographical locations, but can and should be understood through several mediated representations, this interdisciplinary article investigates and amplifies the re-imaginings of China’s urban space through the visual analysis of real-estate billboards and the selected works by contemporary artists Wang Wei, Miao Xiaochun, Ni Weihua and Xing Danwen. Although billboards display systematically positive, promotional and state-sanctioned urban imaginaries, artists provide more diverse and critical ways to understand how the urban space is designed, imagined and produced. Together, they complement and challenge each other’s visions, offering several competing lenses and means to interpret and untangle the complexity of the urban space by way of imagining futures. Although my focus is on visual arts and creative practices, this article is highly indebted to urban studies and inevitably touches upon social and economic theories. Through this interdisciplinary approach, this article allows for multiple and comprehensive understandings of cities, which can lead to developing creative solutions for urban space in the future.