"Self-image" paintings by Yue Minjun

The Paintings, sculptures and installations of Yue Minjun always feature uniform laughing faces. And if these laughing faces are observed carefully, it will be noticed that these faces are the face of Yue Minjun. With these formations of self portraits, Yue Minjun presents various realities that emerge as the background behind the laughing visages. These realities emerge through various easy to recognize symbols, metaphors and signs,
or through depictions of daily life.

The laughing faces and the representations of reality in Yue Minjun's works are closely related. And this relationship shows Yue Minjun's fairly easy to read cynicism in confrontation with reality. Concerning this cynisism, Yue Minjun has commented that he has commented that he senses an unrecognized power whose center is unknown, but which can engineer/manipulate the behavior of human being through intimidation and terror. This power constitutes a kind of violence that can make human behavior change progressively