Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, 1977

The mausoleum was built soon after Mao’s death on September 9, 1976. People throughout China were involved in the design and construction of the mausoleum, with 700,000 people from different provinces, autonomous regions, and nationalities doing symbolic voluntary labor.

Until now, the world’s permanent preserved corpse of the leaders are a few of the few communist regime dictators, including Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh, China’s Mao Zedong, North Korea’s Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il’s father and son.

Ai Weiwei, S.A.C.R.E.D, 2011-2013

Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist known for his political activism and talent for pushing buttons. After spending 81 days in prison for alleged tax evasion in 2011, it makes sense that the prolific artist wasn’t just going to sit back and pretend it never happened. Once released, he set to work with a team of assistants and sculptors to create S.A.C.R.E.D., an installation that gives viewers a very literal look at Ai’s experience in solitary detention.

Zhang Xiaogang

BOY (BLOODLINE SERIES), 2006

Drawn from formal family portraits, the paintings represent both the individual and the faceless masses of China during the 50s and 60s. The figures, often dressed in identical Mao suits, have distinctive red blood lines which demonstrate the links between people.

Tetsuya Ishida 石田 徹也​(1973-2005)

Recalled, 1998

Exhibited at the Venice Biennale 2015

Tetsuya Ishida came of age as a painter during Japan’s “lost decade,” a time of nationwide economic recession that lasted through the 1990s. On May 23, 2005, he was instantly killed by a train at a level crossing in Machida, Tokyo. He was 31 years old.

Untitled, 2001, sold for HKD 3,860,000 (USD 493,379​) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2012

Body Fluids, 2004, sold for HKD 2,800,000 (USD 357,891) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2012

Marc Quinn

SELF, 1991

Self is a self-portrait of the artist, but one that literally uses his body as material since the cast of Quinn’s head, immersed in frozen silicone, is created from ten pints of his own blood. A further iteration made every five years, this series of sculptures presents a cumulative index of passing time and an ongoing self-portrait of the artist’s aging and changing self.

Kyle Thompson​

Untitled, 2012