Simon Fujiwara

In 2014 the artist commissioned the Mansudae Art Studio - North Korea's state run art production facility - to produce a series of 7 paintings of a simple glass of fresh milk. With over 4000 employees, 1000 of whom are trained artists, the Mansudae Art Studio produces all of North Korea's propaganda imagery and monumental bronze statuary. Despite their highly developed production capabilities in the field of art, North Korea produces no fresh milk. While the state offers no official reasons, numerous Western theories abound: from the poor treatment of their livestock and high electricity costs associated to transporting fresh produce to the dairy intolerance common among asian nations. This series of paintings by the anonymous artists of the Mansudae Studio unwittingly present a portfolio of North Korea's stylistic imagery - from nostalgic, tactile renderings from the early 1950s and poster style images that evoke portraits of their leaders to the hyper-real painting style used for contemporary advertising - and together track the communist nation's unique relationship to products as it continues to exist isolated from the powers of the global market.