Mao's Silhouette 2000

Yu Youhan painted "Mao's Silhouette" in oil, using a playful and provocative approach to portraiture. I love how the flat floral patterns create a kind of camouflage, almost like a subversive take on traditional portraiture. The colors are muted, slightly off, which gives the whole thing a kind of dreamy, ironic feel. Look at the way the flowers almost dissolve into the background, particularly around the ear. It’s like the image is both there and not there, present and absent, iconic and yet somehow anonymous. It reminds me of some of Elizabeth Murray’s paintings, the way she messes with the boundaries of form and image. Youhan plays with our expectations, creating an image that's both familiar and totally strange, a perfect example of art as a conversation, always questioning, always pushing.