Pictograms, Ideograms, and their influence
"The Chinese way of writing is a complex combination of pictograms, ideograms, and signs that indicate sounds." (Brookfield: Book)
This quote is important in that it helps one understand the beauty and difficulty of the Chinese language. The current language that dominates over China is rooted within the history of communication. Also, I feel its important to note that current items in American pop culture rely on ideograms and pictograms to convey quick messages. Street signs, advertisements, and numerous symbols in our culture rely on the use of ideograms and pictograms. Every culture relies and uses such things, whether or not they are actually imbedded within the language. An immediate example of the power of ideograms and pictograms can be seen through the genius of various comic creators, ranging from Will Eisner, to Art Speigleman (sp?), to Jack Kirby, to Chris Ware and so on. Every culture is affective and unique in its way to arrange shapes to represents ideas that are larger than the actually visual image.
You're right--symbols play a huge role in any culture. Unfortunately, the works of artists like the folks you mention are still largely perceived as simple doodles when in fact they reflect some of the most powerful elements of language (sometimes they are even capable of amplifying meaning in ways words can't).