Big Parrots

One of the most striking aspects of Yue Minjun's works is the fluidity and ingenuity with which he reconfigures his satirical self-portrait in new and compelling settings and compositions. The laughing figure, appearing most often with eyes shut and virtually all of his teeth accounted for, is an image that Yue developed in response to his own feelings of futility in contemporary Chinese society. He has in essence turned himself into an "idol", in the same way that mass media creates pop idols. For Yue, "idols are reproduced everywhere, and the huge volume of images exerts a tremendous power. Once something is turned into an idol, I can utilize it Idols have their own life and influence our lives constantly as well, telling us how to act, how to be". Yue's use of his own image as an idol subtly derides its own iconic power, placing it in ever more absurd and fantastic settings, mocking the faddishness of contemporary society. In Big Parrots, Yue's two figures stand gleefully mimicking each other, while the parrots, themselves better known for their own arts of impersonation, stand aside, drolly appealing to the viewer, as if to further underscore the Yue's view of human behavior.