THE aggressively smiling faces of avant-garde painter Yue Minjun are appearing in all their toothiness at He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen. The 30 works are on display though June 11.

As one of China's leading artists, the 44-year-old Beijing-based artist's works are instantly recognizable by his trademark laughing figures, actually the artist himself in various guises.

The laughing figures always have more teeth than one could possibly want, like the expensive smiles of fashion models advertising the latest whitening power of a toothpaste brand.

Repeatedly using his own image in his paintings, Yue transforms himself into an icon for the spiritual emptiness of the contemporary world.

"By employing traditional painting and sculpture techniques, multiple clones of my self-portrait image have been created in order to invent a new idol, in a similar approach to that of television and movies," Yue said.

Yue's trademark smile appears superficial, mindless and even ridiculous, but it is also deeply revealing and compelling.

The postures of laughing figures often result from unnatural contortions. The laughter itself is not natural or spontaneous. Yue uses it to cast doubt on common perceptions of reality.

His works combine basic elements of propaganda posters from the "Cultural Revolution" (1966-1976) with those of modern advertising.

Many of Yue's works contain specific symbols such as the sun, Tian'anmen Square, red flags, slogans, red lanterns, red balloons and army caps. Meanwhile he purposefully invokes the visual character of advertising that emerged with the Chinese market economy from the late 1980s.

Editor: Wing