2013-08-30T06:58:00-07:00
2
Daxiong Guo
Daxiong (real name Jingxiong Guo) was born in Jilin Province, China and began drawing at a very young age with no formal training.
After graduating with a degree in Commercial Design from the Jilin Art Institute, he worked as a newspaper editor.
In 1996, Guo began practicing Falun Gong, whose spiritual cultivation aspect struck a note with him. Wearing long hair, torn pants and chains, Guo had dabbled in Western philosophy, Taoism, and Buddhism. When he discovered Falun Gong (falundafa.org), a spiritual practice following principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, he felt he had found his calling.
But because the Chinese communist regime does not allow religious freedom, the practice of Falun Gong was banned within China, and a massive crackdown on the group led to the arrests of practitioners, including Guo, who was subsequently forced out of his job at the newspaper. After losing his job, the only thing Guo could do to make a living was to start drawing.
In 1999, Guo founded Qicartoon Studios (now Flag Studios LLC) in Jilin province where he served as the chief illustrator.
In 2000, he was the winner of the Shanghai Animation & Comic Competition with his work Chinese Ghost Stories, which received publication soon after the competition. In Europe, he received top honors at the 33rd annual Angoulême International Comics Festival for his work Demi Gods and Semi Devils, written by the acclaimed, best-selling novelist Jin Yong. Guo's work in Europe also made the top three in the 2007 best-selling comics list. Since 1999, through his studio, Daxiong has published over 100 titles with distribution in China, Japan, and Taiwan.
Guo went on to become an art professor at one of the hundreds of cartoon schools that sprang up throughout China. In his lessons, he often discussed the purpose and inner meaning of art by invoking traditional Chinese philosophy. He found, however, that these values had been lost among the younger generation who grew up after the Cultural Revolution. Daxiong is considered a leading professor of comic arts in China, and his teaching materials are still used in classrooms today.
Yet Guo's story remains one unique to a modern China under communist rule. A Falun Gong practitioner, Guo is wanted by the State police for using his art to speak for those persecuted by the Chinese communist regime; these artistic works amounts to slander in the regime's books.
Many of his political comics during 1999-2003 portrayed China's then-Chairman Jiang Zemin, the initiator of the persecution of Falun Gong, as a rotund and jealous figure. In addition, he illustrated the Nine Commentaries on The Communist Party which criticizes the Chinese communist regime.
In 2008, Guo was arrested a second time and was charged with “slandering the Party and Party members,” through his art work. He was then systematically tortured in prison for 3 months.
After escaping to New York City in 2009, Guo founded Flag Studios LLC and has been working with DC, Dark Horse, and IDW on projects such as Star Wars, Justice League America, and Fringe as well as his own creations.
After graduating with a degree in Commercial Design from the Jilin Art Institute, he worked as a newspaper editor.
In 1996, Guo began practicing Falun Gong, whose spiritual cultivation aspect struck a note with him. Wearing long hair, torn pants and chains, Guo had dabbled in Western philosophy, Taoism, and Buddhism. When he discovered Falun Gong (falundafa.org), a spiritual practice following principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, he felt he had found his calling.
But because the Chinese communist regime does not allow religious freedom, the practice of Falun Gong was banned within China, and a massive crackdown on the group led to the arrests of practitioners, including Guo, who was subsequently forced out of his job at the newspaper. After losing his job, the only thing Guo could do to make a living was to start drawing.
In 1999, Guo founded Qicartoon Studios (now Flag Studios LLC) in Jilin province where he served as the chief illustrator.
In 2000, he was the winner of the Shanghai Animation & Comic Competition with his work Chinese Ghost Stories, which received publication soon after the competition. In Europe, he received top honors at the 33rd annual Angoulême International Comics Festival for his work Demi Gods and Semi Devils, written by the acclaimed, best-selling novelist Jin Yong. Guo's work in Europe also made the top three in the 2007 best-selling comics list. Since 1999, through his studio, Daxiong has published over 100 titles with distribution in China, Japan, and Taiwan.
Guo went on to become an art professor at one of the hundreds of cartoon schools that sprang up throughout China. In his lessons, he often discussed the purpose and inner meaning of art by invoking traditional Chinese philosophy. He found, however, that these values had been lost among the younger generation who grew up after the Cultural Revolution. Daxiong is considered a leading professor of comic arts in China, and his teaching materials are still used in classrooms today.
Yet Guo's story remains one unique to a modern China under communist rule. A Falun Gong practitioner, Guo is wanted by the State police for using his art to speak for those persecuted by the Chinese communist regime; these artistic works amounts to slander in the regime's books.
Many of his political comics during 1999-2003 portrayed China's then-Chairman Jiang Zemin, the initiator of the persecution of Falun Gong, as a rotund and jealous figure. In addition, he illustrated the Nine Commentaries on The Communist Party which criticizes the Chinese communist regime.
In 2008, Guo was arrested a second time and was charged with “slandering the Party and Party members,” through his art work. He was then systematically tortured in prison for 3 months.
After escaping to New York City in 2009, Guo founded Flag Studios LLC and has been working with DC, Dark Horse, and IDW on projects such as Star Wars, Justice League America, and Fringe as well as his own creations.
