Yue Minjun lives and works in Beijing, China and is best known for his self-portraits featuring an enormous grin. He once noted, “I always found laughter irresistible,” which is evident in many of his artworks.
Yue Minjun lives and works in Beijing, China and is best known for his self-portraits featuring an enormous grin. He once noted, “I always found laughter irresistible,” which is evident in many of his artworks.
Following the Tiananmen Square massacre and protests, Minjun used his art to understand the societal changes of China, and as a political critique of Chinese history and Western art standards. Oftentimes, the artist will depict political issues in an abstract or unconventional manner. We love his use of bold and bright colours paired with his signature wide smile. Of his work, he said: “I’m actually trying to make sense of the world. There’s nothing cynical or absurd in what I do.”
Minjun studied oil painting at Hebei Normal University and has exhibited in Hong Kong, Berlin, Shenzhen, Shanghai, London, and New York. His artwork is held in the collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Shenzhen Art Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
