Smile-ism Series

Notorious for his deceptively ironic self-portraiture, Yue Minjun is a highly distinguished icon of Chinese contemporary art. Based in Beijing, Yue was one of the pioneering figures of the Cynical Realism movement, along with prominent contemporaries such as Fang Lijun and Liu Wei. In his works, Yue often incorporates references to Western and Chinese works of art, such as Chinese socialist propaganda and commercial art or masterpieces by Caravaggio. His aesthetic reveals influences from both Surrealism and Pop art, employing a dynamic color palette and cartoonish style to mask the artist’s inner solicitude towards the contemporary cultural and sociopolitical issues.

One of the definitive trends that arose in the Chinese contemporary art scene of the 1990s was ‘self-image’. As shown in the lots 5 & 9 are from the “Smile-ism” series, Yue’s signature protagonist, marked by a large toothy grin, pink skin, shaved head, and closed eyes, resembles the artist himself. His exaggerated, ludicrous face is void of any imperfections, casting him as an unrealistic and superficial maniac. Beneath the humorous overtones of the protagonist’s hysterical facade belies the artist’s solemnity and anxiety towards the society undergoing a rapid modernization. Moreover, the repetition of such motif throughout his oeuvre embodies the conformist nature of China’s authoritative, communist government as well as the mechanical reproduction prevalent in consumerism. Yet, the variety in the context of each work regularizes the subject to maintain a personable sense of individuality. By portraying himself in a satirical light, Yue transports the viewer into the realm of the real world, kindling a commentary on the extreme circumstances of his existence in the postmodern Chinese society.