YUE MINJUN

Yue's Idol Series is noticeably the men who wear nothing but briefs. Virtually naked, and with their eyes tightly closed, they hold themselves in various poses which seem premeditated, crooked and forced. These poses, appearing almost like those of Indian yoga, are anthropomorphized, suggesting the postures of a cat, eagle, snake or swan. In the sculpture Untitled (Lot 2381), the enlarged three-dimensional human figure appears in an enigmatic posture, inviting the audience to mimic the gesture themselves. By aligning human beings with the animal kingdom, the artist suggests that men, as part of nature, are still subject to the laws of natural selection: "survival of the fittest". To live or "survive" in a society one must pervert his disposition and thoughts and, no matter how unwillingly, one has to put on a laughing mask, at least superficially, in order to partake in the general direction taken by the society.