Tseng Kwong Chi found himself drawn to observe Asian tourists in
New York. He felt these tourists were so completely Westernized
that you couldn't tell if they were Chinese, Korean or Japanese.
Using cues from history, Chi recalled that in 1972 after Nixon's
groundbreaking visit to China, only the cultural elite of the United
States visited China. Chi didn't consider this a fair exchange, so
merging his interests in photography and performance, he appointed
himself the unofficial ambassador to China and inaugurated a life
time project titled East Meets West. Tseng began to dress in a
Mao suit, anonymous dark mirrored sunglasses. He attended
major social events posing as a Chinese dignitary and began to
photograph himself with stereotypical American icons.
born: Hong Kong
died: 1990