Even before his iconic Mao Zedong: AO (1988), Wang Guangyi had began to tackle the canons of art and history on his avant-garde canvases of the 1980s, amid social and political shifts that are still playing themselves out in the People’s Republic. For a Feature survey of Wang’s formative works in ArtAsiaPacific 77, contributing editor Andrew Cohen spoke to Wang in one of his Beijing studios, as the artist prepared for his largest solo exhibition in China to date, at Today Art Museum later this year. They discuss the allure of powerful cultural icons, and the continuing significance of Mao in shaping Wang’s painting and world view.