Max Protetch Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of sculpture and painting by Chinese artist Yue Minjun. Yue, one of the seminal figures in what has been dubbed the `Cynical Realism’ group, is an internationally recognized pioneer of contemporary art from China.

Yue Minjun will present a monumental work of bronze sculpture, 25 Contemporary Terra Cotta Warriors. The piece consists of twenty-five identical smiling figures, their arms raised before them with interlocked fingers. Like the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warriors in Shanxi Province, China, the work makes its impact through multitude. The cumulative effect of the repeated figures exudes force; but the hilarity expressed on their faces and in the uniformity of their attenuated pose seems to suggest an entirely different relationship to culture and history.

Yue Minjun is best known for these madly smiling quasi-self-portraits. They have populated his work since the early 1990s. Masses of the figures populate his paintings and sculpture and have been interpreted along numerous lines. Updated Everymen, they seem to offer silent commentary on tumultuous historical events that take place around them. Yue has stated that the smiling figure was derived from certain elements of Taoist philosophy. The hilarious smile is a symbol of detachment that allows its wearer to laugh off the problems of the world and achieve paradoxical tranquility.

When Yue first began creating works featuring these smiling figures, it was easy to see them as responses to political tumult. Now, with the Chinese economy and art world booming, they can be seen as wry celebrators. It is this universal applicability of Yue’s work, derived in part from Western pop art traditions, that augments its mystery and joy.