Yue Minjun

The artist

Born in 1962 in Daqing, China, Yue Minjun lives and works in Beijing. An iconic figure in contemporary art, he is the best known member of China’s cynical realism movement. He made his name with monumental works whose central theme is an examination of laughter in all its senses, enabling him to ‘mask his powerlessness’ and to caricature the uniformity of Chinese society. Yue Minjun’s paintings are ambiguous, the smiles of their open-faced subjects somehow unsettling.


Exhibitions

  • Yue Minjun

    November 9 - December 28, 2013
    Paris - Beaubourg

Biography

Born in 1962 in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, China
Lives and works in Beijing

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015
Yue Minjun, The Nightingale, Brandts, Odense, Denmark

2014
Yue Minjun, Neo Idolatry, Macau Museum, Macau, China

2013
Yue Minjun, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France

2012
Yue Minjun : L’Ombre du fou rire, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France
Yue Minjun, Galleri S.E, Bergen Norway

2011
The Archaeological Discovery in A.D. 3009, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark
The Road, Pace Beijing, Beijing, China

2010
The Spirit Scenes from Time Past : Yue Minjun Solo Exhibition of Paintings Series Landscapes with No One, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China

2009
The Archaeological Discovery in A.D. 3009, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Smile-isms, Arario Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2007
Yue Minjun and the Symbolic Smile, Queens Museum, New York, New York, NY, USA
Yue Minjun : Looking for Art, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
Yue Minjun : I Love Laughing, Asia Society, New York, NY, USA

2006
Yue Minjun : Manipulation Series, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, France
Reproduction Icons : Yue Minjun Works, 2004 –2006, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Looking for Terrorists, Beijing, Commune, Beijing, China

2005
Post Auratic Self Portrayal of Yue Minjun, CP Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia

2004

Yue Min Jun: Sculptures And Paintings, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong, China

2003
Yue Min Jun: Beijing Ironicals, Prüss & Ochs Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Yue Min Jun, Meile Gallery, Switzerland

2002
Soaking In Silly Laughter: One Of Art Singapore 2002, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore
Yue Min Jun: Handling, One World Art Center, Beijing, China

2000
Red Ocean: Yue Min Jun, Chinese Contemporary, London, United Kingdom

1997
Yue Minjun, Klaus Littmann Gallery, Basel, Switzerland


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2015
Sèvres Outdoors 2015, Cité de la céramique, Sèvres, France
AsiaTime – 1st Asia Biennial and 5th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Harmonie und Umbruch, MARTa Herford, Herford, Germany
Face To Face, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York City, NY, USA
Exhibition of Today Art Museum’s collections, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

2014
West Says East Says, United Art Museum Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Einblicke in die Sammlung Wemhöner, Sammlung Wemhöner, Berlin, Germany

2012
Face : Exhibition, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2011
Surreal Versus Surrealism in Contemporary Art, Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Valence, Spain


2010
The Construction Dimension : 2010, Chinese Contemporary Art International Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2009
Vancouver Biennale 2009–2011, Vancouver, Canada
China in Transition: George Legrady und aktuelle chinesische Malerei, Stiftung Ahlers Pro Arte und Stiftung Kestner Pro Arte, Hannover, Germany

2008
Trans-Local-Motion : The 7th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China
The Revolution Continues: New Chinese Art, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom

2007
Energy : Spirit, Body, and Material— The First Today’s Document, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
China-Facing Reality, Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna, Austria

2006
Radar : Selections from the Collection of Vicky and Kent Logan, Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, USA

2005
Mahjong : Sigg Collection of Modern Chinese Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Bern, Switzerland

2004
Guangju Biennale 2004, Guangju, Korea
Shanghai Biennale 2004, Shanghai, China
20 Years Of Hanart, Tz Gallery, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong, China
China, The Body Everywhere?, Marseille Museum Of Contemporary Art, Marseille, France
Art On The Beach, Enrico Navarra Gallery, Paris, France

2003
From China With Art, Edwin Gallery & Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
Cp Open Biennale 2003, Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
The Rest Of The World, Neuffer Am Park, Pirmasens, Germany
Neue Kunsthalle Mannheim 2, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
People And People: Chinese Modern And Contemporary Art Collections Of Gdma, Guangdong Museum Of Art, Guangzhou, China
Living Conditions: Selections From The Gdma Collection Of Contemporary Chinese Art, Guangdong Museum Of Art, Guangzhou, China

2002
Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Red Land, China; Gwangju Art Museum, Korea
Korea And Chinese Painting 2002: New Expression, Seoul Culture & Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Chinese Contemporary Art, Rekjavik Art Museum, Iceland
A Point In Time-Changsha, Beauty Art Museum, Changsha, China
The First Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum Of Art, China
Inaugural Exhibition: Contemporary Terracotta Warriors, The Esplanade, Singapore
Golden Harvest: Chinese Contemporary Exhibition, Croatia National Art Museum, Croatia

2001
Ornament And Abstractiono, Foundation Beyeler, Switzerland
Hotpot: Chinese Contemporary Art, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway
Towards An New Image: Twenty Years Of Contemporary Chinese Painting, National Art Museum, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Sichuan Art Museum, Chendu; Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Song Zhuang, Staedtische Galerie Im Buntentor Bremen, Bremen ; Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany

2000
Between Chengdu Upriver Residence, Kunming Upriver Club, Kunming, China
Portraits Of Chinese Contemporaries, The Culture Center Of Francois Mitterrand, Périgueux, France
Our Friends, Bauhaus University Art Gallery, Weimar, Germany

1999
Open Boundary : The 48th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Open Channels: The First Collecting Exhibition Of Dongyu Museum Of Fine Arts, Dongyu Museum, Shenyang, China
New Modernism For A New Millennium: Works By Contemporary Asian Artists From The Logan Collection, Linn Gallery, San Francisco, USA

1998
The Grand Tour, Chinese Contemporary, London, United Kingdom
The First Exhibition Of The Upriver Gallery Collection, He Xiangning Art Gallery, Shenzhen, China
It’s Me!-A Profile Of Chinese Contemporary Art In The 90s, Forbidden City & Tai Miao, Beijing, China
Beijing Prediction: Contemporary Art Of China, Beijing, China

1997
Quotation Marks: Chinese Contemporary Paintings, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
China Now, Tokyo, Japan; Basel, Switzerland.

1996
China!, Bonn Art Museum, Germany; Kuenstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria

1995
Vision Of China: Contemporary Chinese Painting By Chinese Masters, Pacific City Club, Bangkok, Thailand
Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition: From Realism To Post-Modernism, Theoremes Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

1994
Faces Behind The Bamboo Curtain: Works Of Yue Min Jun And Yang Shao Bin, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong

1992
Yuan Ming Yuan Artists Exhibition, Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing, China

1991
Contemporary Modern Art Exhibition, Beijing Friendship Guest House, China

1987
S, Art Exhibition, Hebei Museum, Hebei, China

Press Release

Arts Magazine - avril 2014

Chine : des classiques aux jeunes artistes

Figaro Magazine - mars 2014

Yue Minjun et Liu Bolin : deux star du marché de l'art

L'Express - décembre 2013

Voir la Chine en peinture

Annick Colonna-Césari


Connaissance des Arts - décembre 2012

L'art hilare de Yue Minjun

Guillaume Morel

Beaux Arts Magazine - décembre 2012

Pour ou contre Yue Minjun

Thomas Schlesser, Caroline Puel et Pierre Sterckx


International Herald Tribune - décembre 2012

Yue Minjun gets to laugh again, this time in Paris

Nazanin Lankarani

News

Iván Navarro
Yue Minjun
LES EXTATIQUES – GROUP SHOW

Paris La Défense (Hauts-de-Seine)
From June 25 to October 4

Daniel Templon est âgé de 21 ans lorsqu’il fonde la galerie en 1966, rue Bonaparte dans le quartier de Saint-Germain-des-Prés. D’abord ouverte sous le nom de Cimaise-Bonaparte dans la cave d’un antiquaire, la galerie déménage rapidement à l’étage, avant de déménager en 1972 dans le Marais, rue Beaubourg, à quelques pas du futur Centre Pompidou.

Pierre et Gilles
Philippe Cognée
Jan Fabre
Chiharu Shiota
Yue Minjun
DANIEL TEMPLON – PORTRAIT OF A GALLERY

INSTITUT CULTUREL BERNARD MAGREZ, BORDEAUX, FRANCEFrom 3/09/2017 to 6/25/2017

On the 9th of March 2017, the Cultural Institute Bernard Magrez, leading centre for arts and culture in Bordeaux, pays tribute to Daniel Templon through an important exhibition organised at the Château Labottière. With over 600 exhibitions and 250 artists, the world-renowned French galerist, always knew to pay particular attention to the artistic avant-garde. The exhibition, portrays Daniel Templon, pioneer and major figure of the art world, featuring five major artists of his gallery, offering different artistic styles: Philippe Cognée, Jan Fabre, Pierre et Gilles, Yue Minjun and Chiharu Shiota.    

Yue Minjun
PASSAGE TO HISTORY: 20 YEARS OF LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA AND CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART(GROUP SHOW)

Venice Biennale, Arsenal, Venice, Italy

Du samedi 1er juin au dimanche 24 novembre 2013 Italian art criticand curator Achille Bonito Oliva, together with Chinese art historian LüPengare invited to co-curate “Passage to History: 20 Years of La Biennale di Venezia and Chinese Contemporary Art”.They will offertheir historical perspectives on this exhibition and its cultural subjects.Thanks to the former’s participation, we may gain a clearer understanding ofand affinity for the Chinese contemporary art exhibitionat La Biennale di Venezia, its background andhistorical significance. As for the participation of the latter, he has fortwenty years been in the position of clarifying contemporary art in China for international audiences. (…)

Atul Dodiya
Jan Fabre
Jitish Kallat
Mao Yan
Chiharu Shiota
Kehinde Wiley
Yue Minjun
ART BASEL HONG KONG 2013

Booth view