Quote from insidevancouver.ca:
Good news for public art fans in Vancouver: A-maze-ing Laughter is staying in English Bay.
You may not know this sculpture by name, but chances are you’ve seen it. A-maze-ing Laughter consists of 14 enormous bronze statues – in all different poses – of a shirtless guy laughing hysterically.
First installed in 2009 as part of the Vancouver Biennale, A-maze-ing Laughter has quickly become the city’s most recognizable piece of outdoor art. Kids climb all over the giant, three-metre-tall statues and swing from the arms. Tourists stream in to mimic the funny poses and take snapshots. One couple was even married right in the middle of it all.
But great art, of course, doesn’t come cheap. The sculpture, by Chinese artist Yue Minjun, was originally priced at a whopping $5 million. Yue later slashed that to a relatively modest $1.5 million, which the Biennale Foundation is now trying to raise (The Biennale is a non-profit group that brings world-class sculpture to Vancouver every two years)......Source: www.insidevancouver.ca
