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Yue Minjun
Lotus Pool - Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese

2009

About the Item

Yue Minjun, Lotus Pool Lithograph in color on wove paper “BFK Rives” Edition of 130 120 x 80 cm (47.2 x 31.4 in) Red dry-point artist stamp at the bottom left corner. Numbered in pencil (Roman numbers) at the bottom right corner. Comes in the original folded slip with a printed poem from Fernando Arabal Accompanied by Certificate of Authenticity In mint condition, as acquired from the publisher (Delight Editions and printed by Arts-Litho, Paris and Atelier Grafiche Tintoretto, Castretta di Villorba (text)). PLEASE NOTE: Edition numbers could vary from the one shown in the pictures. The pictures shown are only for illustrative reasons, the piece is offered unframed. Lotus Pool belongs to the set of twenty lithographs from the “Snatched Ecstasy of Yue Minjun”, which comes as a limited edition of 132 rare books. The work of Yue Minjun is instantly recognizable with its uniform laughing faces, the artist's faces, thus Yue Minjun creates formations of self-portraits. Minjun creates various realities against which the laughing figures are rendered, thus creating ambiguous images, often with the sinister atmosphere, which comes as his personal cynical reaction to various social and political dimensions of contemporary Chinese realities. "[...] I choose to paint laughter, to communicate a sense of pleasure and happiness, but actually, it hides a double perspective of drama and suffering." — Yue Minjun Lotus Pool presents a laughing self-portrait on a white crane in the midst of the pink lotus pool. The immediate attention is drawn to the symbolism of happiness - the pink lotus has a sacred status in Chinese culture and beyond and is associated with creation, enlightenment, purity, and the highest realms of Buddhism. The white crane symbolizes longevity. Such an ideal setting is juxtaposed with the contorted, "closed" posture of the sitter, whose laughter signifies tension. YUE MINJUN Yue Min-Jun (born 1962, Daqing, China) is one of the leading Chinese artists. He is best known for oil paintings depicting formations of his laughing self-portraits in various settings. His iconography is easily recognisable, it challenges social and cultural conventions by depicting objects and political issues in a radical, abstract, ironic and cynical manner. Yue Min-Jun initially started painting as a hobby, subsequently he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hebei Normal University, China in 1985. In the 90s he joined an artist community in Yuan Ming Yuan, a village near Beijing where he began to form his style and iconography. The paintings, sculptures, and installations of Yue Minjun feature uniform laughing pink faces, which appear to be self-portraits. Through various symbols, metaphors, signs, or through depictions of daily life the artist constructs various realities against which the laughing figures are rendered. "In my work, laughter is a representation of a state of helplessness, lack of strength and participation, with the absence of our rights that society has imposed on us." —Yue Minjun Yue became famous after his participation in the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999, which granted him access to international art. One of the best-known paintings by Yue Minjun and an icon for modern Chinese art and the Cynical Realism movement is Execution. It was painted in 1995 and is generally regarded as a reaction to the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989, as it shows several laughing men in front of an execution squad. The cloned all smiling Minjun self-portraits have become known in the art world as the "Silly Man". As the preparation for his paintings, the artist uses photographs of himself being photographed in various poses. This approach reflects the self-irony of the artist. Yue Minjun is often classified as part of the Chinese "Cynical Realist" movement, however, the artist does not support such attribution. Nevertheless, Yue often challenges social and cultural conventions by depicting objects and political issues in a radical, abstract, ironic and cynical manner.
  • Creator:
    Yue Minjun (1962, Chinese)
  • Creation Year:
    2009
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 47.25 in (120 cm)Width: 31.5 in (80 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Zug, CH
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1562211091012
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