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Yue Minjun – A-Maze-ing Laughter, Vancouver, Canada, photo: CC BY-SA 2.0) by Matthew Grapengieser
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About Yue Minjun
Yue Minjun was born in Daqing in Heilongjiang, China in 1962. For most of his life, Yue moved from place to place, because his family had to move from oilfield to oilfield to find work. Before starting to work as an electrician, he graduated from Hebei Normal University in 1989, where he studied oil painting.
What inspired him to create his laughing self-portraits?
1989 was the same year in which China was left shocked by the infamous student-led demonstrations and the suppression of such on Tiananmen Square. These movements played a large part in the inspiration and mood of Yue’s work. In order to fight the dark mood of the hour, the dark reality of the time, he created vibrant self-images embodying an almost mania; The laughing image.
The different meanings of laughter
Laughter never necessarily means happiness. Laughter can be nervous. It can be spiteful. It can be healing. A smile or a laugh can be genuine but can also be a mask. They can mask feelings of loss, feelings of helplessness and feelings of confusion. Although the smile on Yue’s sculptures and paintings has often been interpreted as a joke or bliss, the meaning behind the smile often is so much deeper.
Yue’s influences
Yue was influenced by the Chinese modern art revolution, during which old ideas were being broken down and new thoughts were being created. He grew up in a time when market economic policies were beginning to release and there was accelerated development. This was also a period of global economic prosperity. These social and economic changes that were happening on a global level, especially within China, pushed artists like Yue Minjun to quickly grow and evolve. Within this group of artists, Yue is without a doubt one of the most successful. He is also known as an influential member of the Cynical Realism movement.
Self portraits & using humor as a tool
His famous self-portraits take place in various settings, with an infamous expression of wide-toothed laughter. The figures featured in these self-portraits with disproportionately large faces, gleefully open mouths and eyes closed, have become recognizable to admirers around the world. Throughout his work, Yue utilizes humor as a tool to convey a tempestuous stage in modern China.
Yue Minjun – Contemporary Terracotta Warriors, 2005, installation view, Donum Estate, California, photo: Gregory Gorman
Sculptures outside of China
In more recent years, Yue’s sculptures have become the most famous and most visible works around the world. His sculpture A-mazing Laughter is a permanent installation in Vancouver, Canada. Yue’s Warriors were installed at LongHouse Reserve in New York.
Yue Minjun – Contemporary Terracotta Warriors, 2005, LongHouse Reserve garden, East Hampton, NY, USA
Analysis
In portraying himself within his paintings he allows himself more freedom of expression. Through this expression, he is able to look at himself and society. He has the ability to question reality, and the laugh that is portrayed in his portraits and sculptures is one that is relatable for his countrymen and women who have experienced the changes in society. The smile that is so large and convincing often has something else behind it. Sometimes in any given situation all we can really do is smile.
Selected works
Yue Minjun – Contemporary Terracotta Warriors, 2005, Zabludowicz Collection, London, 2009, photo: Thierry Bal
Yue Minjun – Contemporary Terracotta Warriors (detail), 2005, Zabludowicz Collection, London, photo: Thierry Bal
Yue Minjun – Contemporary Terracotta Warriors, Chatsworth House, United Kingdom, photo: CC BY 2.0 by Paul Stevenson
Yue Minjun – Contemporary Terracotta Warriors, 2005, installation view, Donum Estate, California, photo: Robert Berg
Yue Minjun – Contemporary Terracotta Warriors, 2005, installation view, Donum Estate, California, photo: Robert Berg
Video: Interview with Yue Minjun from 2012
Yue Minjun opens up about his work and how little he received of his 5.9 million USD record-breaking Execution work at Sotheby’s1.
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Related articles
- http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.5.html/2007/contemporary-art-evening-auction-l07024
