Photo by Ana Bustilloz/LAist

Driving down La Brea Avenue in Hollywood the other day, I did a double-take when I spotted this amazing gleaming bust of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

What’s a massive chrome bust of the Bolshevik leader of the October Revolution doing chilling on one of LA’s premiere shopping strips catering to bourgeois hipsters who want to purchase expensive lamps, rugs and designer furniture, you ask?

“Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head” is by the Gao Brothers, Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang, who have made quite a name for themselves by making controversial art focusing on the mixed legacies of some of world Communism’s historical figures.

From the LA Times:

Their specialty, however, is Mao. The Beijing artists have created works including a sculpture of the former chairman kneeling on the ground (and with a removable head), a series of torso sculptures of Mao sporting large female breasts, and another sculpture depicting Mao in a submissive sexual position.

One of their best-known works is a sculptural installation called “The Execution of Christ,” featuring the Messiah in front of a firing squad. One member of the firing squad is Mao.

Their work also verges into performance art. On their website, the artists report on one such performance in which they smashed one of their big-breasted Mao sculptures while wearing Mao masks.

This sculpture is really amazing. It’s presently sitting in front of the Ace Museum at the corner of La Brea and 4th Street.