Gonkar gyatso poster frames

One of the most important contemporary artists from Tibet working today, Gonkar Gyatso, now a British national, creates work that is at once personal, political, and often humorous.

Gyatso has become most known for his use of pop images and iconography within the form of a Buddha, and his work often satirizes world politics and events while also poking fun at the mundane and superfluous aspects of life.

As the artist has stated, "Just as the identity of my homeland cannot be separated from religion and politics, so my own sensibility has been shaped by the undeniable bond between the two."

In Gyatso's most personal and political work, My Identity (), the artist presents four self-portraits, portraying himself as a traditional Tibetan, as a Chinese communist, as a refugee, and as permanent exile.

Also created in , Pokeman Buddha is Gonkar's first attempt at combining the Buddha with pop imagery and set the precedent for what has now become a dominant visu