For Chinese artist Wang Wenhai, Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution have assumed a position of monumental importance in both his life and art. From 1970 he worked as a museum guide for the Yan'an Revolutionary Museum, an experience which provided a historical background to his practice as a sculptor. He continues to live and work in Ya'nan, Shaanxi province, where the historical Long March ended. Wang's work takes the form of celebratory monuments to Mao, ranging in size from tabletop clay busts to larger-than-life sculptures in fibreglass. His work is a reminder of the extent to which Chairman Mao is embedded within the folklore and culture of China. Like many of his generation, Wang became a Red Guard in 1966 and was an enthusiastic participant in Mao's Cultural Revolution. Since Mao's death in 1976, Wang has continued to celebrate and glorify the great leader of his youth.

In Mao Zedong and Mao Zedong, the artist presents Mao as both Chairman and Emperor (Mao compared himself to Emperor Chin Shih-huang, who unified China in 221 BC). More recently, following his collaboration with the Long March Project, Wang's work has developed to portray Mao in several guises, including as an abstract and faceless figure.