In the mid-1980s, Wang Guangyi espoused a humanist vision of art for post-Mao China. His series of paintings entitled "Frozen North Pole" sought to evoke, in the artist's words, "a kind of beauty of sublime reason which contains constant, harmonious feelings of humanity." Abstract human figures place

Bright, Chinese grey humor, Citational, Collage, Parody, Playful, Political, Political pop, Pop

Not long before Teiji Furuhashi succumbed to AIDS, his video "Lovers" was selected by New York's MoMA for an exhibit that included works by the famed Gary Hill and Bill Viola. This artistic feat, while impressive, would hardly be earth-shattering -- if it wasn't for the fact that "Lovers" was Teiji's

Hypnotic, Parody, Repetitive, Spectral, Technology

Sex and silliness -- those are the two major elements of Red or Dead's work. Wayne Hemingway's British design firm gives us sinuous clothing that holds onto its wearer as though it were simply colored, patterned, textured flesh, and he gives us the comedy of fake bunny fur and sequins. Red or De

Egalitarian, Funny, Parody, Playful, Sexy, Witty

And now for something completely different. It's 1969, love and social criticism are in the air. Throw together five well-educated Britons and one American (that makes six cross-dressed men all together), add a dead parrot and a wicked sense of the absurd, and "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is born.

Absurd, Clever, Funny, Parody, Surreal, Witty