Almost everything that Chinese artist Yue Minjun paints, sculpts or prints includes at least one man—closely resembling the artist himself—locked in laughter. Minjun’s work is delightful, infectious and brightly ironic. His men laugh through any situation, in any state of dress, or cross-dress, piled in groups, embracing birds, mocking suicide, or standing in front of a mushroom cloud. The persistence of laughter in every image marks the absurdity not just of suffering, awkwardness and political strife, but of existence itself and the value of the individual. Minjun says:
I paint people laughing, whether it is a big laugh, a restrained laugh, a crazy-laugh, a near-death laugh or simply laughter about our society: laughter can be about anything. Laughter is a moment when our mind refuses to reason. When we are puzzled by certain things, our mind simply doesn’t want to struggle, or perhaps we don’t know how to think, therefore we just want to forget it. …Artists are the kind of people who always like to reveal to the simple, innocent and humble souls, the never-ending illusion of our lives.
Check out his gallery. (Via Designboom)
