Fang Lijun is a leading protagonist of Cynical Realism, a movement that began to develop after Chinese authorities suppressed the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and closed the "China Avant Garde" exhibition at the China National Gallery in Beijing.

The bald-headed youth which first appeared in the artist's paintings in the early 1990s has become Fang Lijun's characteristic figure and has been widely interpreted as the symbol of disillusion, mockery and rebellion in contemporary Chinese society. Later series include the water series, dreamlike works of swimmers, and gigantic, multi-panel, woodblock prints. His work has been widely exhibited in China and throughout the world, including a show of his woodcuts and drawings, held at Berlin’s Staatliche Museum in 2006.