Outspoken, provocative, and prolific, the artist ai weiwei is an international phenomenon. His recent exhibitions include sunflower seeds at the tate modern, london, a vast assemblage of handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds. Open in his criticism of the chinese government, ai was famously detained for months in 2011, then released to house arrest. Ai uses documentary film, sculpture, architecture, photography, social media, and government processes themselves as media to highlight social justice issues and humanitarian crises. China at the armory show 2014 in new york city, curator philip tinari reflects on the work of chinese artist ai weiwei. Ai weiweis work is profoundly linked to chinas family, political and cultural. The artwork that made me the most dangerous person in china in 2009, the dissident artist created a work to honour the thousands of children who died in the sichuan earthquake.
Ai weiwei gives world his middle finger public delivery. Two exhibitions of the work of chinese artist ai weiwei who remains interned by the chinese authorities are opening at londons somerset house and at the lisson gallery. As an activist, he calls attention to human rights violations on an epic scale. As different architectural forms attempt to regulate the different manners of any given persons activity, they. This book is also a sobering reminder of the price some pay for testing the boundaries of expression in a country that fears freedom. According to what, adapted and expanded by the hirshhorn museum and sculpture garden from a 2009 exhibition at tokyos mori art museum, was ais first north american museum retrospective. Trapped in china, i saw my creations through a mirror written by matthew ponsford, cnn london when his major survey exhibition opens at londons royal academy of arts, ai weiwei will. Ai weiwei was born in 1957, a remarkable figure of chinese conceptual art and excessivism. Ai grew up in the far northwest of china, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his fathers exile. Ai weiwei, architecture and space, blog posted january 2006 introduction artist ai weiwei occupied alcatraz, one of north americas most infamous penitentiaries, via artworks designed to provoke our perception of freedom and imprisonment. Taschens new book, meticulously edited and lavishly produced. Pdf the article provides a holistic appraisal of activistartist ai weiweis. This fall marks his triumphant return to new york city with two new gallery shows. A cultural figure of international renown, ai weiwei is an activist, architect, curator, filmmaker, and chinas most famous artist.
May 12, 2016 what are ai weiweis thoughts on architecture. His artistic practice covers a wide array of mediums, from sculpture, film, photography to architecture among many others. While ai s art was lauded internationally, the frequently provocative and subversive dimension of his art, as well as his political outspokenness. Ai started his embarkment on architecture without even realizing it. The philosophy of ai weiwei from andy warhol and back again. Ai weiwei is a chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural. The exhibition andy warhol ai weiwei is a provocative pairing of two seemingly disparate artists that reveals their underlying similarities. While ais art was lauded internationally, the frequently provocative and subversive dimension of his art, as well as his political outspokenness. The philosophy of ai weiwei from andy warhol and back.
The single dumbass, premiered last month along with its music video, is included in the album. He has now disappeared and in doing so has become more than an important contemporary artist, see the phaidon monograph for a good survey. The case for ai weiwei the art assignment pbs digital. Ai weiwei a global citizen, artist and thinker, ai weiwei moves between modes of production and investigation, subject to the direction and outcome of his research, whether into the chinese earthquake of 2008 for works such as straight, 200812 and remembering, 2009 or the worldwide plight of refugees and forced migrants for law of the journey and his featurelength documentary, human flow. My immediate response was to chuckle, to see the humor in ais middle finger positioned in front of some of the worlds most notable manmade landmarks, from tiananmen square to. Ai weiwei is a multimedia artist and provocateur whose work has frequently challenged the chinese government. Tinari, director of the ullens center for contemporary art in beijing and curator of armory focus. This artwork is made up of photographs and the bicycle, but the artwork also existed in cyberspace as a daily posting on his website and social media feeds.
He has been vocal and openly critical of the chinese governments stance on democracy and human rights. Beijing, june 22, 20 the ai weiwei studio released ai weiwei s first music album, the divine comedy, today to commemorate the second anniversary of his release from an 81day secret detention. Firsttime director, alison klayman, spent three years following weiwei as he prepared for major. A relentless activist with passion for architecture. While ais art was lauded internationally, its frequently provocative dimension as well as his political outspokenness triggered forms of repression from chinese authorities. May 16, 2012 i saw a couple of these photos from ai weiweis study of perspective series during my visit to moma in march and absolutely loved them. Ai weiwei is one of todays most important and controversial artists. The exhibition andy warholai weiwei is a provocative pairing of two seemingly disparate artists that reveals their underlying similarities. My immediate response was to chuckle, to see the humor in ais middle finger positioned in front of some of the worlds most notable manmade landmarks, from tiananmen square to the white house to the painting of mona lisa. Ai weiwei s philosophy has always revolved around utilizing architecture and art as means of achieving social transformation. For more than three years, ai weiwei turned out a steady stream of scathing social commentary, criticism of government policy, thoughts on art and architecture. Ai weiwei s blog is a collection of courageously honest rants. These two themes have affected and galvanised the artist.
In this short interview, the chinese artist talks about his first building, his sources of inspiration and his downtoearth approach to architecture. Spatial matters also includes excerpts from ai weiwei s famous blog shut down by chinese authorities in. Ai weiwei a global citizen, artist and thinker, ai weiwei moves between modes of production and investigation, subject to the direction and outcome of his research, whether into the chinese earthquake of 2008 for works such as straight, 200812 and remembering, 2009 or. China, notes ais fascination with artists marcel duchamp and andy warhol and the resulting influence upon the artists work. This monumental volume, developed in association with the artist, draws on the full breadth of ai weiwei s architectural, installation, and activist work, with a focus on his use of space. Ai weiweis blog is a collection of courageously honest rants. I saw a couple of these photos from ai weiweis study of perspective series during my visit to moma in march and absolutely loved them. Ai weiwei splits history in first solo show in china. A time and place where the more outrageously antiauthoritarian and oppositional the statement, the better. Documenting a huge range of international projects with drawings, plans, and photographs of finished work, ai weiwei. Find more works of this artist at best visual art database.
Ai weiwei is a globally renowned artist, activist, and the most famous chinese dissident of his generation. Apr 04, 2014 ai weiwei s work reflects his multiple artistic identities as conceptual artist, architect, filmmaker, designer, curator, writer, and publisher. Ais visual art includes sculptural installations, woodworking, video and photography. Spatial matters also includes excerpts from ai weiweis famous blog shut down by chinese authorities in. Jun 24, 2015 this summer, for his first solo show in his native china, dissident artist ai weiwei offers the unusual spectacle of a ming dynasty ancestral temple split in two. His father, a famous revolutionary poet, fell out of favor with the chinese communist government. The artwork that made me the most dangerous person. The wood structure, originally located in jiangxi province, honors a sixthcentury prince. Ai weiwei in palazzo strozzi arc 4 introduction to history of architecture 12102016 known for his daring and thoughtprovoking works, ai weiwei is one of the most famous and celebrated chinese contemporary artist nowadays. His work has captured global attention and served to bring attention to social injustices, human rights violations. Never sorry is a film about ai weiwei, a renowned chinese artist and activist who continually champions the values of democracy and human rights, and thus works in opposition to chinas authoritarian government. Ai weiweis work in chinese art history and looks at how the artist has deliberately.
In recent years, he has produced an astonishingly varied body of work while continuing his role as activist, provocateur, and. His overtly political tweets and social activism including his boycott of the beijing. Ai weiwei, wadegiles romanization ai weiwei, born may 18. Ai weiwei has been called an iconoclast, a radical, a voice for the voiceless, and was once named the most powerful artist in the world. What picasso was to the 20th century, ai weiwei is to the 21st, and if our century is to be the chinese century, then its fitting that the greatest artist of the age is chinese. Ai weiwei is the most famous chinese artist living today. Art architecture pdf download book, let s get read or download it because available in formats pdf, kindle, epub, iphone and mobi also. Art architecture is of vital importance to the state. Beijing, june 22, 20 the ai weiwei studio released ai weiweis first music album, the divine comedy, today to commemorate the second anniversary of his release from an 81day secret detention. Ai weiwei study of perspective, tiananmen, 19952010, cprint, 32,5. The first comprehensive monograph on the life and work of activist and dissident chinese artist ai weiwei, this luxurious, silkwrapped tome takes the cake for summers most sumptuous gift book.
He then returned to china, an environment far less open to such views. Ai came of age as an art student in 1990s new york. A richly illustrated exploration of ai weiweis installation and architecture projects, focusing on the artists use of space. When he wanted to move out of his mothers house, he needed a place of his own.
Ai weiwei, chinese artist and activist whose work included sculptural installations, architectural projects, photographs, and videos. The documentary goes onto chronologically reconstruct the events that occurred from the time he was arrested at the beijing airport in april 2011 to his. The installation consists of photographs of some of the bunches of flowers ai weiwei put in his bicycle basket every day during his travel ban. Architecture projects from ai weiwei, an architecture office firm centered around. This summer, for his first solo show in his native china, dissident artist ai weiwei offers the unusual spectacle of a ming dynasty ancestral temple split in two. Ai weiwei is a chinese contemporary artist, active in blogging, sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism.
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