Yue Minjun Returns From 10-Year Hiatus With New Floral-Inspired Exhibition
“Smile at the Flower Sermon” will go on view at Tang Contemporary Art from March 24 to April 30.
After a 10-year hiatus, Yue Minjun is set to unveil a new solo exhibition titled “Smile at the Flower Sermon.” Housed at Tang Contemporary Art, the acclaimed Chinese artist presents his iconic Laughter series alongside a new suite of paintings that bloom with a floral twist.
Mijun was inspired to explore the symbolism of flowers back in 2020, when he was living in Chuncheng in the southwestern province of Yunnan. The flowers of the city provided the artist a refreshing counterpoint to the gloominess ushered in by the pandemic. Amongst the 20 new paintings, many of them either feature or replace his emblematic smiling faces with seductively deceptive flowers. Deceptive, in the sense that Minjun sees these elements as merely decorative, where there is an awareness that the truth of his subjects are hidden.
As a result, each composition presents the viewer with a mystery. What are the flowers actually concealing? What have we lost? Discover for yourself as “Smile at the Flower Sermon” goes on view at Tang Contemporary Art from March 24 to April 30.
Elsewhere in art, Mark Whalen sculpts the quirkiness of life in Lucky Charm.
Tang Contemporary Art
10/F, H Queen’s,
80 Queen’s Road Central,
Hong Kong