No. 026
Dai Yinglun
Performing Apes – Riding
68x45cm
Ink and color on paper
2025
US$3,000
The monkeys disguise themselves as humans and embark on a conceptual career in officialdom. Rooted in the traditional Eastern narrative symbol of "being conferred a marquis immediately upon mounting a horse" (a homophonic metaphor for rapid promotion in officialdom), this work creates a solemn sense of order through uniform dark official robes and standardized official hats, yet undermines such solemnity with the facial features of apes—posing an inquiry into "the true self beneath social attributes".
About the Artist
Dai Yinglun
（China，b.1987）
MFA in Chinese Painting, Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts. Based in Shanghai. His work centers on the observation and depiction of “crowds.” Through the recombination of real environments, objects, and human behaviors, his compositions evolve from the depiction of individual figures to complex crowd arrangements, creating seemingly absurd behavioral systems. This approach reflects how, in real life, individuals possess unique personalities, yet when gathered into groups, they resemble “fractals,” developing hierarchies and structures that highlight the blind conformity of collective consciousness as well as the isolation and logical gaps of the individual. His works have been exhibited at the Xi’an Contemporary Art Museum and Shanghai Meibo Art Museum, and he was shortlisted for the John Moores Painting Prize.