MIAO Ying
God, Bear and Unicorn
Dimensions : 305 x 240 x 35 cm
Materials : Print on fabric, Pop up stand
Year : 2016

Unicorns are mythical creatures, usually described as a white horse with a long horn on its head. Beside from representing magic and myth, unicorns also refer to start-up companies in estimate value over one billion US Dollars. A total of 229 unicorns exist in the world, of which 33 are located in China. In Miao’s work, a bear roaring towards a unicorn contrasts by its ferocious nature with the pureness and innocence of the legendary animal. The paw of the bear constitutes a metaphor to a well-known Chinese unicorn search engine, while the honey dropping on the upper right corner of the image symbolizes greed. In the middle of the artwork, Beckham, our “God”, flashes his famous tattoo: “Life and death is preordained, fortune and honor are given by the Heavens”. Unicorns not only stand for mega Internet companies, their horns can be crushed into powder and used to fight any kind of disease. It is also said to have to power to make one invincible and reverse death.