Installing Amazing Laughter at Morton Triangle. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

It was a gorgeous September day when Yue Minjun’s super-popular figurative sculpture was unpacked from the boxes that it had been shipped across the Pacific in.

A giant crane plucked the figures from the boxes and raised them into the sky.  Still wrapped in plastic, glistening in the sunlight.

The crane put the figures gently down into Morton Triangle where they were put in place and quickly became the most popular pieces of the first part of the Vancouver Biennale Exhibition 2009 – 2011.

Installing Amazing Laughter at Morton Triangle. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Patinated bronze Yue Minjun (China)

Yue Minjun uses his own iconic face in a state of hysterical laughter as a signature trademark.

Recognized universally as a sign of happiness, the smile raises questions of intent and interpretation.

One of the most influential contemporary artists in China, Yue Minjun represents the new wave of Chinese artistic freedom. Amazing Laughter marks Yue MOnjun’s Canadian debut.

In Amazing Laughter Beijing-based artist Yue Minjun depicts his own iconic laughing image, with gaping grins and closed eyes in a state of hysterical laughter.

These laughing figures are the signature trademark of the artist. They are not a conventional self-portrait, as they tell us little about the person portrayed or of the reason they are laughing so hysterically.

The longer you look at these cast bronze figures, the more the contradiction of the silent, frozen form of sculpture begins to intrude.  We see, but do not hear the laughter.

The contorted poses of the figure suggest animation and a cartoon form of an anonymous person. The laughter appears to be convulsive, intense, and manic, but also insincere and forced. The scale is “un-naturally” large –exaggerated and excessive like the laughter.

Yue Minjun was a leading figure in what became to be known in the 1990’s as Cynical Realism, an artistic movement that emerged in China after the 1989 student demonstrations in Tiananmen and the suppression of artistic expression.

Humor, cynicism, repetition and an emphasis on the individual are common characteristics of this artistic movement.  Yue Minjun was one of the first artists to translate this new ironic view of contemporary life, one that is expressed in the nihilistic hilarity at a time when little was funny.

For more information visit www.yueminjun.com

Installing Amazing Laughter at Morton Triangle. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

We by Jaume Plensa silently contemplates Vectorial Elevation.

If you’ve been enjoying the balmy night weather along the seawall or out in Vanier Park or False Creek in the past week or so then you’ve probably been witness to the new CODE – Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition – light installation called, Vectorial Elevation.

Created by Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, the installation consists of 20 super high-intensity industrial searchlights – 10,000 watts a piece and mounted on robotic fixtures – and is turning the night sky in Vancouver into a laser light show for the ages!

The choreography of the lights can be programmed by people anywhere in the world via their website and can also be seen via Google Earth.

Pretty amazing as Dan Fairchild’s photos confirm.

We by Jaume Plensa sits amid a cathedral of light.

Egg in your eye! Lenin got pelted. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing.

Sometimes people exercise their constitutional rights with words by writing and publishing their thoughts in books or newspapers.  Sometimes by writing letters to the editor of the local papers.

Sometimes they’ll do it by throwing eggs or mud in the direction of their dissatisfaction.

Eggs in one eye, mud in the other. Photos by Dan Fairchild.

I went out to Richmond yesterday to get a look at the thing itself in all its massive stainless steel glory.

It’s located in a gravel lot and overlooks the parking lot of an ICBC Claims Office.  And yes, it’s as charming as that sounds.

Behind it is some slick condo towers and a hotel.

Some people were exercising their freedom of expression with eggs and mud, while others laid sets of flowers at the base of the sculpture as a memorial.

Dan Fairchild did another amazing job of capturing the details with his camera.

Lenin takes the criticism head-on. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

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Winter is finally upon us!  After flirtations with frost earlier this month we now have snow on the ground.

The sculptures of the Vancouver Biennale attain renewed elegance and power in these conditions.  They gain some interesting new beauty as a result.

Once again, the mercurial Dan Fairchild set out to capture some of the Vancouver Biennale sculptures as the cold winds of December blew in.

Take a look.

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It was one last blast of sunshine and warm weather – a perfect weekend for late-September.

The clear and sunny skies brought people out into the parks of Vancouver and thousands of people had a little fun on their way to English Bay with Yue Minjun’s hugely popular A-Mazing Laughter installation.

Intrepid photographer Dan Fairchild caught some of the action with his camera.  Looks like everybody was having a good time.

Getting a little fresh with the artwork!  Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Yue Minjun uses his own iconic face in a state of hysterical laughter as a signature trademark. Recognized universally as a sign of happiness, the smile raises questions of intent and interpretation. One of the most influential contemporary artists in China, Yue Minjun represents the new wave of Chinese artistic freedom.

A-Mazing Laughter marks Yue Minjun’s Canadian debut.

Faces are flowers soaking up the sun.  Photo by Dan Fairchild.

In A-Mazing Laughter Beijing-based artist Yue Minjun depicts his own iconic laughing image, with gaping grins and closed eyes in a state of hysterical laughter.  These laughing figures are the signature trademark of the artist. They are not a conventional self-portrait, as they tell us little about the person portrayed or of the reason they are laughing so hysterically.

The longer you look at these cast bronze figures, the more the contradiction of the silent, frozen form of sculpture begins to intrude.  We see, but do not hear the laughter.  The contorted poses of the figure suggest animation and a cartoon form of an anonymous person. The laughter appears to be convulsive, intense, and manic, but also insincere and forced.

The scale is “un-naturally” large –exaggerated and excessive like the laughter.

The poses are infectious.  Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Yue Minjun was a leading figure in what became to be known in the 1990’s as Cynical Realism, an artistic movement that emerged in China after the 1989 student demonstrations in Tiananmen and the suppression of artistic expression.  Humor, cynicism, repetition and an emphasis on the individual are common characteristics of this artistic movement.

Yue Minjun was one of the first artists to translate this new ironic view of contemporary life, one that is expressed in the nihilistic hilarity at a time when little was funny.

You gotta keep your head up around these guys.  Photo by Dan Fairchild.

For more information about Yue Minjun’s incredible work please visit www.yueminjun.com.

For more information about Dan Fairchild’s great camera work please check out his Flickr Photostream.