Yue Minjun’s oil painting “Execution” broadcasts its powerful message through content, colors, composition, and subjects. Yue has instituted an inventive and unique style for self-portraiture work. Specifically, he is best known for his oil portraits that depict his own laughing figure in different iconic moments in history.

Yue Minjun (b. 1962), Execution, 1995. Oil on canvas, 59 x 118 in. Image source: Forbes.com.

Regarding the colors in this painting, the red wall is certainly noteworthy. My first impression of the painting was the red colored wall, which instantly spurred the thought of death. Moreover, the red color is ironic because the victims who were about to be executed would soon have blood all over them that would match the color of the wall. The red color is also contradictory to the statement above, as the color is traditionally associated with happiness and propitiousness, creating a rigid dichotomy of interpretation. 

Specifically, the event in China that ignited Yue to paint this piece was the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, which resulted in a massacre by the government that killed thousands of innocent Chinese citizens, including students. This protest was largely a demonstration for a democratic movement in the country. During this period in China, many citizens were skeptical and critical of Deng Xiaoping, then the leader of the country. Many Chinese felt that the Deng administration was restricting their independence, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The protests began on April 15th, 1989 and ended June 4th, 1989, when the Chinese government declared martial law. Many of the student protestors began a hunger-strike to outline the level of social and political injustice present in the country. The declaration of martial law in this instance enabled the government to partake in immeasurable and unnecessary violence, by equipping troops with assault rifles and tanks. What started as a vehicle to convey political expression, quickly escalated into a bloodshed event that further suppressed Chinese citizens’ civil rights (Wikipedia).

There are several key features in this painting. First and foremost, the painting illustrates the political dysfunction in China during this period. Specifically, the victims (on the left-hand side) have been rounded up by Chinese armed forces, being punished for their protests of the Chinese government. As mentioned above, many protestors in this movement decided to participate in hunger-strikes. The victims on the left-side appear to be malnourished, with their bones almost popping out of their chests. Shifting focus to the subjects on the right-side, these men are troops in the Chinese military. Interestingly, the firing squad holds no guns, instead, with one troop cocking his hands like he is in possession of an imaginary gun. The invisible gun is enigmatic, in the way that it is difficult to precisely analyze what Yue was aiming to symbolize. Anthony Daniels, the author of the article “Yue Minjun’s haunting laughter,” notes that this paradox creates a potential charade, as all participants are laughing in a deeply sad situation. Furthermore, Daniels states that “the charade is about as amusing as would be that of an extermination camp;…and the fact that people are constrained to laugh at the imaginary reenactment of executions of themselves (if that is what the picture depicts) suggests likewise that the dictatorship, at least that over minds, has not yet passed” (Daniels 2013).

The most important feature of this painting is that all the subjects have a big, over-exaggerated smile on their faces, bringing comical dimension to the slaughter being shown in the painting. According to Yue, “at first you think [the person] is happy, but when you look more carefully, there’s something else there…a smile doesn’t necessarily mean happiness; it could be something else” (Bernstein 2007). Evidently, the act of smiling in this painting, especially by the victims, portrays the powerlessness that they possessed at this moment. Perhaps what Yue is also trying to display is the way that the helplessness of the victims caused their tears to convert to laughter. 

Yue’s painting resembles almost identical components to that of legendary Spanish painter Francisco Goya’s 1814 painting May 3 in Madrid or “The executions.” In both paintings, suppression and political controversy are an apparent theme. In respect to Goya, he based his work on the Spanish resistance of Napoleon’s army in 1808, where innocent Spaniards were murdered by the French (Museo Del Prado).

Francisco Goya (b. 1776) May 3 in Madrid or “The executions,” 1814. Oil on canvas,  8′ 10″ x 11′ 5.” Image source: museodelprado.es. Museo Del Prado, Madrid, Spain, room 064. 

Work cited

“1989 Tiananmen Square Protests.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, April 16, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests.

Bernstein, Richard. “An Artist’s Famous Smile: What Lies Behind It?” New York Times, November 13, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/arts/design/13smil.html.

Daniels, Anthony. “Yue Minjun’s haunting laughter.” New Criterion, Vol. 31, Issue 10 (June 2013) (accessed April 16, 2020) https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A334486089/LitRC?u=nysl_ca_unionc&sid=LitRC&xid=4292b9f5

 “The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid, or ‘The Executions.’” Colección – Museo Nacional del Prado. Accessed April 16, 2020. https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/el-3-de-mayo-en-madrid-o-los-fusilamientos/5e177409-2993-4240-97fb-847a02c6496c.

“The young companion” is known to be one of the most sought-after magazines in China in the early years of the 20th century, not only because of its unique content, but also its distinctive feature right from the eye-catching cover. The covers of the magazine are the images of beautiful and active modern girls, which are new objects appearing on the cover of the magazine because before that, feudal ideas suppressed their appearance. In issue 45, published in 1930, the magazine cover features an image of Guan Zilan, she is a real figure in modern Chinese history, a painter who is famous for introducing Fauvism to China. In the green background picture, she is holding a mandolin, a traditional Chinese instrument. She was one of the most impressive female characters chosen to put on the cover of the magazine because Guan Zilan was the first artist to bring “Fauvism style” to China. This portrait is one of her selected published works taken from an exhibition of her after graduating from China Art University. Her beauty represents a Chinese woman who is both traditional, deep and modern, attracting any audience. Originally, the phrase “modern girl” was used for modern Japanese women at that time, but Guan Zilan, with her successful career in Japan, attracted the media in this country and became a beauty model at the time. The picture shows the spirit and goals the magazine wants to aim for: women who enjoy life through daily life activities and exude a feminine, modern beauty. To show her beauty right from the cover, the editor used an effective presentation that we call “kaleidoscopic”. This technique allows the main character to stand out clearly and “create the  impressions of changes without disruption” (Paul, Kuiyi, Yingjin 2013), attracting readers not only by the beauty of the character but also the harmony eye-catching color.

References:

1. Paul G. Pickowicz, Kuiyi Shen, Yingjin Yang – Liangyou, Kaleidoscopic Modernity and the Shanghai Global Metropolis, 1926 – 1945 – Published 2013 – Page 3.
2. Hong Kou Bao – Article”Lan Zhihui’s heart is far away” – Published 2012 April 16.                                                                                                                                      http://hongkouweekly.xinmin.cn/html/2012-04/16/content_4_9.htm

For my analysis of a piece of my artist’s work, I am picking an entire series of photographs, because it seems the artist saw them as a group and not individual works. This series is entitled The Century with Mushroom Clouds and is photographs of gunpowder explosions he made to look like mushroom clouds taken across the United States. Locations included Manhattan, the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the atomic bomb testing site in Nevada. These pieces are all photographs of Cai’s chosen medium gunpowder. The pictures are all taken in a way that you can see not only the gunpowder but also the scenery of the place it was set off along with the artist himself with his back turned to look towards his work. 

Can is famously known for his use of gunpowder to create art. Gunpowder was originally invented in China as an elixir of life and then later on used as an explosive (Monroe). This gives a sort of dual meaning to Cai’s work here, where he is portraying gunpowder as the most deadly explosion known to man, the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb, yet made out of a substance invented to heal. According to the artist he believes that “the mushroom cloud was one of the most important symbols of the twentieth century” (Tufnell, 2012), in that now it is seen as a symbol of power and destruction more than it is inflicting it (since his little gunpowder clouds where essentially harmless and just for show). He compares this to the Great Wall of China, in that while it does not keep enemies out it is a vital sign of power and if it were to be destroyed would have a bigger emotional impact than military (Tufnell, 2012). The most moving place, I think, that he photographed one of his mushroom clouds at the Nevada Nuclear Test site. He tells a story of how when he set it off the military personnel that had escorted him were so shocked they called their supervisors, who called their supervisors and so on until it reached the White House. However, when they realized it was just gunpowder from firecrackers they let it go (Tufnell, 2012). This antidote goes to show how just a meaningless firecracker explosion can trigger such panic simply because of what it is reminiscent of. 

The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the Twentieth Century (Manhattan) 1996
Realised in New York City, looking towards Manhattan, 20 April 1996
Gunpowder and cardboard tube

https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/atomic-tourism-and-false-memories-cai-guo-qiangs-the-century-with-mushroom-clouds

The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century (Nevada Test Site)
1996
Realized at Nevada Test Site, February 13, 1996, approximately 3 seconds
Gunpowder (10 g) and cardboard tube
[Ephemeral] https://caiguoqiang.com/projects/projects-1996/century-with-mushroom-clouds/

The rest of the series can be seen on Cai’s website here

Munroe, Alexandra. “Cai Guo-Qiang Drawing for the Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century.” Guggenheim., last modified -03-26T20:41:35+00:00, accessed Apr 16, 2020, https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/map/parts-and-wholes.

Ben Tufnell, ‘Atomic Tourism and False Memories: Cai Guo-Qiang’s The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Art & Environment’, in Tate Papers, no.17, Spring 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/atomic-tourism-and-false-memories-cai-guo-qiangs-the-century-with-mushroom-clouds, accessed 17 April 2020.

Ai Weiwei, Instillation, Life-jackets, Konzerthaus Berlin 2016

This instillation comes in the wake of several pieces of art from Ai Weiwei with the focus on refugees in Europe. The first major piece Ai Weiwei constructed on refugees was a recreation of the famous photo of a drowned Syrian refugee child washed up on the shores of  Greece. This photo drew world wide attention to struggles Syrian refugees where enduring in the hopes of getting their families somewhere safe. Ai Weiwei connected to the struggle the refugees where experiencing as he also had to leave his home country of china as it was not safe for him any longer. This put him in a unique situation where his voice on the crisis had a very strong impact. Shortly after his photo recreation Ai Weiwei chose to cancel an instillation he had planned in Copenhagen after hearing of a law passed in Denmark that allowed authorities to seize valuable assets of asylum seekers and withhold them from their families. All of this occurred in 2015 subsequently in 2016 Ai Weiwei created his instillation which features the Pillars of the Konzerthaus Berlin in Germany fully wrapped in life jacket. This instillation was put up during the same time the Berlin film festival was occurring. Some believe that the instillation which clearly is in reference to the ongoing Syrian refugee situation was not well thought out (Neuendorf, 2016), as it was installed in a Germany who had accepted the most refugees out of any country in the European union. However in typical Ai Weiwei fashion, he lets the work speak for itself and chooses to have very little commentary about it. While some think that it is wrong to have put this instillation in Germany, the art instantly drew great media attention and brought the focus back to the refugee crisis which is most likely what Ai Weiwei intended.

Bibliography

Tan, Monica. “Ai Weiwei Poses as Drowned Syrian Infant Refugee in ‘Haunting’ Photo.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Feb. 2016, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/01/ai-weiwei-poses-as-drowned-syrian-infant-refugee-in-haunting-photo.

Neuendorf, Henri. “Ai Weiwei Showcases 14,000 Refugee Life Jackets in Berlin.” Artnet News, 15 Feb. 2016, news.artnet.com/art-world/ai-weiwei-life-jackets-installation-berlin-427247.

Li Hua, Raging Tide I: Struggle, woodcut, Dimensions 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm), 1947. Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/77098

Li Hua’s “Raging Tide I: Struggle” is a woodcut print that portrays three strained figures laboring in an agricultural field. These men appear to be dragging a plow through the barren fields of rural China. Both the facial expressions and body language of these men reflect the agony these men are experiencing while working in the fields. The viewer can almost sympathize with these toured souls, presumably forced to cultivate this land for their feudal master. Li Hua combines western influence of German expressionism with traditional woodcut print to create a masterpiece.

Li Hua directly references the Peasants’ War series by the German Expressionist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) in this work. But, at the same time, his work refers to the social turmoil in China during their Civil War. Li Hua provides social commentary that critiques the traditional Chinese life in the rural countryside. Li Hua addresses these issues with a sympathetic and humanitarian touch to his artwork. In this work he reflects the harsh and unfair realities of Chinese feudalism through the pain and agony of the working class peasants. Although Li Hua was not officially a part of CCP until 1953, his works were largely associated with their movement.

Li Hua used woodcut print for art because he believed that it was the best medium to portray social and political upheavals and to promote change, because of its simple black and white nature. The introduction to the modern woodcut movement originated from Lu Xun. In the late 1920’s Lu Xun introduced the modern Western woodcuts in China from German graphic artist, Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) and the Russian engraver, Vladimir A. Favorsky (1886-1964). He considered Western woodcuts a counterpart to the traditional Chinese woodcut prints and combined the two techniques to vividly capture social and political issues in China. Lu Xun proved to be immensely influential to modern Chinese art and introduced technique of woodcut printing to artists such as Li Hua. Many artists followed Lu Xun’s ideals and used the woodcut to promote social/political change and modernization in China.

Citations:

Hung, Chang-Tai. “Two Images of Socialism: Woodcuts in Chinese Communist Politics.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 39, no. 1, 1997, pp. 34–60.

Lin, Pei-Yin. Print, Profit, and Perception : Ideas, Information and Knowledge in Chinese Societies, 1895-1949, edited by Weipin Tsai, BRILL, 2014.