FMB 2022 No. 47

FMB, short for “Full Moon Boy,” is the name for a group of cartoon characters created by Wen Ling. Their faces are all big and round, resembling big moon cakes, thus they are also known as “Moon Cake Faces.” This series was created in 2009. Found in the Collections of Dunhuang Bianwen: Explaining Text of Vimalakirti Sutra, the phrase “a face like the full moon” denotes a round, white face, like the full moon, and is often used to describe complexions that appear plump, radiant, and divine. Although Wen Ling’s “mooncake faces” sound similar to “faces like the full moon” in rhetoric, the two phrases convey very different moods: The cartoons are a group of eccentric-looking characters whose features have been “alienated” to become certain specific symbols.

FMB2022 No. 47 is a new work created by Wen Ling in 2022. There are currently more than 40 characters in the “Moon Cake Face” series, and this exhibition marks the debut of the character “Little Turtle.” In his works, Wen Ling uses his signature painting style to portray many seemingly mundane activities from daily life, such as drinking water and working on a computer, but when the paintings are enlarged and presented in a way similar to ancient frescoes, these everyday scenes also appear to acquire a certain epic quality.