Photo: SARS. Zhao Bandi. © Zhao Bandi.

Carloyn Bandel left her stuffed toys at home and went to Manchester to see what Zhao Bandi has planned for his summer of UK shows.

Beijing-based artist Zhao Bandi takes it to the streets with a massive UK exhibition this summer.

The largest public exhibition of Bandi’s work outside of China will be showing simultaneously in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Portsmouth.

Manchester Art Gallery, the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth will be showing Zhao Bandi’s work in a series of off-site shows and gallery-based exhibitions.

Concurrently the Pandaman’s work will be displayed at London’s Piccadilly train station, as part of London Underground’s Platform for Art.

Photo: Zhao Bandi & panda (Extinction) 1999. Zhao Bandi. © Zhao Bandi.

Bandi, nicknamed Pandaman, photographs himself and his small toy panda, called Mi, in various situations and ads speech bubbles to the scenes.

"Do you mind my smoking?" he asks his comrade in arms in one particular scene. "Do you mind my extinction?" the panda replies.

It is an example of the artist’s deadpan humour which can be seen until the end of August on billboards and bus shelter posters shown in the three cities and London’s Piccadilly station.

Bandi’s work lies somewhere between art, advertising and public information and social issues such as smoking, cloning, road safety and SARS are addressed in this unique style.

He and his little panda, symbolising China’s one child policy, together often parody Chinese State propaganda, using creative messages to reach mass audiences.

Born in 1963, Bandi originally trained as an oil painter and began making a living as an artist in 1993 when his paintings were displayed in a China Avant-Garde exhibition that toured Europe.

Photo: Zhao Bandi & panda (Fakes) 1999. Zhao Bandi. © Zhao Bandi.

However, feeling constricted by this art form, he turned to something that would provide him with a connection between art and society: enter large billboards popularising public service advertisements in collaboration with a fluffy toy panda.

But Bandi doesn’t only use billboards and photography to reach mass audiences, he also expresses himself in more or less public spaces, trying to blur the distinctions between art and the everyday.

Manchester Art Gallery for instance shows a 15 minute DVD called A Tale of Love Gone Wrong for Pandaman 2003, a film Bandi made in court during a copyright trial after two publications had used his work without crediting the artist.

The trial, now famously known as The Panda Case, ends when he subverts the proceedings by reading out a letter from his ex-girlfriend explaining why she left him.

Bandi (even in the witness stand accompanied by his panda) claims to have had a mere impulse to test the system, which results in this satirical portrayal of the courtroom proceedings.

Photo: a court case on Nov 11 2003, also a story about the end of a love story [1-9 pieces] 2003. Zhao Bandi. © Zhao Bandi.

It illustrates the paradox of Bandi: his work appears right across all media (TV, newspapers, magazines and public spaces) and yet he criticises all media full stop.

He uses media to analyse and criticise the media, while he takes images and topics out of context to express personal points of view.

There is no doubt that his art form ensures a connection to society but is it art? Bandi himself doesn’t really seem to care.

In an interview with Karen Smith, published in a book accompanying Bandi’s UK shows, he explains:

"I never thought in terms of becoming 'a great artist', of gaining fame abroad, promoting China, or influencing society in China. All I hope to do is to provide a little illumination."

Britain, be illuminated.

Uh-oh! Pandaman is on show at Manchester Art Gallery until September 5, the Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth until August 28 and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham from July 12 until September 12.