Yue Minjun

Alexander Ochs Gallery, Berlin
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2001

Pirmasens, Neuffer am Park Bildergallery, Der Rest der Welt: Kunst und Künstler aus Asien, Lateinamerika, Afrika und Europa, 2003

Hebei Educational Press, Ed., Yue Minjun: The Lost Self, Hebei 2005, pp. 66-67, illustrated in colour

Colours: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the overall tonality is brighter and more vibrant in the original, with the background tending more towards light peach, the floating red books of the lower section of the composition tending more towards bright fuchsia and brighter hues of pink to the skin overall. Condition: This work is in very good condition. The canvas is slightly slack. There is a very light handling mark to the upper sections of the left and right edges. There is a faint 8 cm. vertical rub mark to the left figure's neck and some stable tension cracks along the upper section of the left turnover edge. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
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The Cynical Realist School, spearheaded by Yue Minjun, is widely considered to be the most important canon of artistic expression in post revolution China to chart the shattered idealism that followed in the wake of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in the summer of 1989. Grand in scale, the present work Glorification by the movement's leading practitioner stands as a monument to the resilience of a generation of progressive Chinese artists who, despite repression and the curtailment of their freedom, used the visual arts as a vehicle for registering dissent. 

Depicting two smiling self-portrait figures of the artist against a cloudy background littered with Chairman Mao's little red books flocking to the distance like migrating geese, laced with sardonic wit, this work is a wonderfully subversive masterpiece that stands as a testament to the spirit of revolution. Exhibiting a pertinent satire upon China's transformational context, the pure and powerful aesthetic presented here witnesses the refining of Yue Minjun's mature style whilst maintaining the humour synonymous with his early works. Drawing on his own socio-political and economic environment for subject matter, Yue Minjun's genius lies in his iconography which mines the rich seam of Western art history, providing him with the ideal vehicle with which to encode his political message in an arena tightly controlled by State censorship.

In a manner that recalls the Romantic inspiration of Caspar David Friedrich's vision, Yue Minjun locates his Glorification drama on a mountain top bathed in theatrical, otherworldly hues which, combined with the Communist commandments trooping past in the swathes of floating red books, give the setting a quasi-religious feeling of enlightenment. Throughout the 1980s, newly emancipated artists were granted greater room for manoeuvre and sought to change society through their work. The landmark exhibition China/ Avant Garde at the prestigious Beijing National Gallery was programmed to showcase the progressive art produced in China throughout the 1980s. However, forced to close on grounds of censorship moments after it opened its doors to the public, any feelings of heady idealism quickly evaporated under the heat of an accusatory political regime that implicated all artists and intellectuals in lawless activity. From 1991 onwards, Yue Minjun lived in a small village to the North West of Beijing where he pioneered an embryonic community of likeminded artists who shared the same ironic, absurdist response to the summer's events. Later known as the Yuanmingyuan artists' village, this community became a hotbed for some of the most talented artists known today, including Fang Lijun and Yang Shaobin. With the social conditions in place, this village on the fringes of society saw the genesis of the Cynical Realism movement.

Lost in the music and mirth of their imaginary instruments as the tools and memories of communist rule fade into the distance, Glorification is the summa of the Cynical Realist spirit in Yue Minjun's work. As such it is of paramount importance in the understanding of contemporary Chinese art. The artist's characteristic cloning of his self-image stands as a metaphor for the superannuated principles of collectivism and egalitarianism championed by the State which inhibited individualism and artistic creativity. The two grinning faces, instead of revealing fear, are contorted by alarmingly inane, absurdist laughter; an ironic hyperbole of the smiling visages of propagandist posters designed to co-opt citizens into working for the common good of the State. Used to convey irreverent ambivalence as the only remaining defence against political oppression, the grinning face has its roots in a work called The Second State by Geng Jianyi, one of the pioneers of the 1980s art scene who paved the way for Cynical Realism. The work, which was among those censored by the closure of the China/ Avant Garde exhibition, had a profound impact on Yue Minjun. This lunacy has an important and specific precedent in Chinese artistic and literary culture. Known as the 'Popi' style, it is analogous to the stock motif of the intelligent fool in Shakespearean tragedy, where feigning madness to cope with political oppression became a way of salvaging one's self esteem. As the artist explains: "Scholars of past times could often only display helplessness when faced with social problems; most of them gave up. The act of giving up is profoundly human. It prevents conflicts with society and allows inner peace to be preserved. By giving up, one becomes carefree and detached. All problems can be resolved with a laugh, and disappear painlessly. In this way one attains an incomparable peace within." (Yue Minjun, 'A Few words Behind My Works' in: Exhibition Catalogue, Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, 2006, p. 138)