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Crazy Pablo: Minjun Laughing Through Chaos
Sometimes life gets so absurd that all you can do is laugh. I couldn’t help but think of the brilliant Chinese artist who started making art during China’s Cultural Revolution—turning despair into uncontrollable laughter. Let’s take some inspiration>>
Inbal Zakai
July 20, 2025
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FIGHTING, Yue Minjun, 2009, color lithograph, 47 × 119.5 cm, from the Snatched Ecstasy edition, Yang Gallery (Singapore/Beijing).
The Cloned Laughter (marked red)
The same figure repeats across the entire canvas, his exaggerated grin stretching wide, almost grotesque. The endless duplication fills the space—an army of forced joy that feels more like hysteria than happiness.
The Mime of Fighting (marked blue)
His hands slice the air in exaggerated pantomime, mimicking combat moves. But it’s more than a performance—he seems to be communicating directly with us, as if to say: “Can you believe this is what we’re doing?” The laughter feels like disbelief as much as humor.
The War in the Distance (marked green)
In the background, helicopters, fighter jets, and a tank crouching in the lower left corner remind us this isn’t just play-acting. The humor sits on top of real conflict, absurdity masking something deadly.
 Yue Minjun – The Execution (1995),  Yue Minjun IMMORTAL-CRANES, 1997,  Yue Minjun, The Pope, 1997. Óleo sobre tela, 198x186 cm. Private Collection.  Yue Minjun, Contemporary Terra-Cotta Warrior, 2005 (detail) | Fun FactYue Minjun paints only one subject—himself. Over and over, cloned into endless backdrops and absurd situations, always laughing so hard it hurts. This is Cynical Realism at its sharpest: a mirror of life when things are so extreme, so beyond logic, that no solution seems possible. What’s left? To laugh. Until tears come. Until your stomach twists from the pain. And if you really need a good laugh—because laughter is contagious—dive into his other works. His Execution scene next to a typical Chinese wall inspired by Manet and Goya , his grinning Terracotta Warriors, even the Laughing Pope inspired portraits all carry the same manic energy. Every time I look through his art, I stumble on another piece I didn’t know, and within seconds I’m smirking, sometimes even laughing out loud. It’s impossible not to - he activates that muscle. |
Think About It 🤔
Minjun’s grin isn’t joy—it’s survival. When everything feels absurd, laughter becomes a shield. His cloned faces look ridiculous, but maybe they’re smarter than they seem: if you can’t fix the chaos, you laugh at it.
It’s not happiness. It’s a way to stay sane when nothing else makes sense.
A-maze-ing Laughter, Yue Minjun, 2009, bronze sculpture installation,
14 figures each 250 cm tall, Morton Park, Vancouver, Canada.
By Cameron Norman from Toronto, ON, Canada - P1000222, CC BY 2.0,
How does it relate to the here and now? or What to say during casual conversation to show off your art knowledge?
Laugh or Break – “With politics, protests, and extreme news flooding us daily, sometimes the only thing left to do is laugh—hysterically. Yue Minjun’s grins feel exactly like that: a pressure valve for the chaos. Maybe the smartest move is to laugh, take a breath, and just turn off the TV for a while.”
Now have another Look!
And If You’re Up for More…
Stop by the HaHaHouse – Zagreb, Croatia Europe’s first dedicated Museum of Laughter mixes interactive installations, cartoons, and playful tech to get you giggling for real. It’s all about rediscovering joy—one belly laugh at a time.
Till next time, there’s nothing like that rush of release after a real laughing fit—the kind that leaves you breathless and lighter. When you laugh hard, your brain floods you with endorphins, those natural feel‑good chemicals that calm, heal, and reset your whole body. So go on - tell me how much you laughed, just hit reply or drop a comment.
Yours,
Inbal Z M
Me with Yue Minjun laughing at my back in 2007 at the XIANDAI Museum, Beijing, China.
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