Zhao Bo is one of a group of young artists called New Realists. "New" because it differs from realism in the classical sense but also because it differs considerably in approach from the artists ten to twenty years older. They have grown up in what is being called China's post-political society, where the materialists have the upper hand over the idealists. The artists of this generation and of the new realism trend look to their immediate surroundings, most often life in the streets, as their inspiration and produce works inspired by these scenes.

Zhao Bo himself said:
"In this chaotic world, people are becoming sly, untruthful, preposterous, full of malicious symbols that are morphing and becoming conceptualized...