Maoist class figures in Wang Guangyi’s Great Criticism series: affect, esthetic heritage and the residual

This article considers the affective power of iconic Maoist class figures and its ongoing effects in the twenty-first century as found in Wang Guangyi’s art, in particular his celebrated Great Criticism (1990–2007) series. It begins by examining the figures’ socio-historical context and the effects they were believed to have, and connects these to theories of iconicity and affect to hypothesize how they combined the conscious and the unconscious to make meaning. I contend that the figures retain their affective residue for some viewers, and that Wang’s art does not strip the affect away; rather, traces of the past still remain, but in different affective registers.