New York-Based Chinese Artist Gao Zhen Sentenced to Three Years for Controversial Mao Sculptures

A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced Gao Zhen, a prominent New York-based artist, to three years in prison for creating irreverent sculptures of Mao Zedong more than 15 years ago, according to his wife.

The Sanhe City People’s Court in Hebei Province found Mr. Gao guilty of slandering one of the country’s heroes, a ruling that highlights the increasingly limited space for expression under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The case of Mr. Gao, who had emigrated to the United States and was detained in Beijing two years ago while visiting family, underscored the opaque nature of China’s legal system. The 70-year-old artist was tried during a one-day secret hearing in March that his family and U.S. diplomats were barred from attending. He was found guilty and sentenced during Tuesday’s hearing, which two of Mr. Gao’s brothers were able to attend.

Mr. Gao is the elder half of the artistic duo known as the Gao Brothers, who gained international recognition during the early 2000s for their satirical and provocative explorations of politically sensitive subjects, including the Cultural Revolution, a decade of political turmoil unleashed by Mao, and the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

The three-year sentence, the maximum penalty Mr. Gao could have received, means he will serve one additional year in prison after two years of pretrial detention. The artist plans to appeal the court’s decision.

Gao Qiang, Mr. Gao’s younger brother, who resides in New York and collaborated with him on the Mao sculptures, said in a Facebook post before the sentencing that regardless of the court’s ruling, “history will ultimately judge the larger question: Whether an artist can be imprisoned for confronting history through art.”

“Gao Zhen has already lost nearly two years of freedom. He should go home,” Gao Qiang added.

Gao Zhen was arrested at his art studio on the outskirts of Beijing while visiting China in 2024. When his wife, Zhao Yaliang, attempted to take the couple’s 7-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, back to the United States, she was barred from leaving the country. The two have remained in China, awaiting Mr. Gao’s release. According to Ms. Zhao, Mr. Gao has refused to confess or plead guilty.

The Gao brothers rose to prominence during a period of relative openness in China. While the police frequently shut down their exhibitions, the two were able to continue working and became known for their creative tactics while evading authorities. They organized underground art exhibitions and, in the case of one particularly provocative piece — a bronze statue of Mao kneeling in repentance, titled “Mao’s Guilt” — they kept the head of the sculpture separate, unveiling it only for special viewings.

According to Ms. Zhao, that piece is one of three that prosecutors cited in their evidence against Mr. Gao. The other two included a sculpture of Mao depicted with breasts and a Pinocchio nose, and another portraying a group of Mao likenesses wielding guns, preparing to execute Jesus.

Criticism of Mao, the former Chinese leader whose legacy is considered central to the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, remains strictly controlled. As part of a campaign to enforce the Party’s official version of history, China has criminalized the tarnishing of historical figures’ reputations and the questioning of official narratives.

Mr. Gao was charged under this slander law, which was enacted in 2018, years after he produced the sculptures of Mao. Journalists, stand-up comedians, and ordinary citizens have been punished under the same statute, but Mr. Gao’s case represents one of the first instances in which it has been applied retroactively.

People familiar with the case said Mr. Gao had been accused of disseminating images of the Mao sculptures online as recently as 2024, including on the cover of a biography of the former leader written by a Chinese journalist who emigrated to the United States in the 1980s.

Shane Yi, a researcher at the nonprofit Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said that by targeting Mr. Gao, the Chinese authorities were sending a message to overseas Chinese citizens that the state retained power over them whether they were abroad or in China.

“But no matter which motive carries the most weight: A person has been locked up for two years over his art, and his wife and young son, a U.S. citizen, have been barred from leaving China this entire time,” he said.

Ms. Zhao reported that her husband had been subjected to punitive measures while in prison, including being deprived of food, denied access to books, and prevented from receiving letters from his family.

Despite these conditions, Mr. Gao has continued to create art, fashioning portraits of his family by tearing pieces of plain paper. In a recent letter to his wife, Mr. Gao enclosed a poem: “Sleepless nights, tossing and turning, memories drift like clouds and smoke/Once a dragon slayer, now imprisoned, he has no regrets for mocking the wicked.”

Pei-Lin Wu contributed reporting.

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