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"Odyssey Tile" (Azulejo Odisseia), 2021
'Rapture', a major exhibition by Ai Weiwei
A Cordoaria Nacional de Lisboa, Portugal, abriu uma grande apresentação da primeira exposição em Portugal de Ai Weiwei . 'Rapture', com curadoria de Marcello Dantas, é a maior mostra do artista até hoje, e apresenta cerca de 80 obras. Incluem algumas das obras mais icónicas do artista, bem como peças originais produzidas em Portugal que exploram as técnicas artesanais tradicionais do país.
The Cordoaria Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal, has opened a major presentation of the first exhibition in Portugal by Ai Weiwei. 'Rapture', curated by Marcello Dantas, is the artist's largest show to date, and presents around 80 works. These include some of the artist's most iconic works, as well as original pieces produced in Portugal that explore the country's traditional artisanal techniques.
In 2013 Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel is represented at the Malives pavilion at the Venice Biennale and then went further and received hospitality at the Zimbabwe pavilion with the Emergency Room Mobile
www.emergencyrooms.org/biennalist.html
Meanwhile Thierry Geoffroy is in Copenhagen the work about todays emergencies continue at the gallery Marianne Friis on the WARM UP Wall established for this occasion
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lists of artists participating at the Venice Biennale :
Hilma af Klint, Victor Alimpiev, Ellen Altfest, Paweł Althamer, Levi Fisher Ames, Yuri Ancarani, Carl Andre, Uri Aran, Yüksel Arslan, Ed Atkins, Marino Auriti, Enrico Baj, Mirosław Bałka, Phyllida Barlow, Morton Bartlett, Gianfranco Baruchello, Hans Bellmer, Neïl Beloufa, Graphic Works of Southeast Asia and Melanesia, Hugo A. Bernatzik Collection, Ștefan Bertalan, Rossella Biscotti, Arthur Bispo do Rosário, John Bock, Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Geta Brătescu, KP Brehmer, James Lee Byars, Roger Caillois, Varda Caivano, Vlassis Caniaris, James Castle, Alice Channer, George Condo, Aleister Crowley & Frieda Harris, Robert Crumb, Roberto Cuoghi, Enrico David, Tacita Dean, John De Andrea, Thierry De Cordier, Jos De Gruyter e Harald Thys, Walter De Maria, Simon Denny, Trisha Donnelly, Jimmie Durham, Harun Farocki, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Linda Fregni Nagler, Peter Fritz, Aurélien Froment, Phyllis Galembo, Norbert Ghisoland, Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Domenico Gnoli, Robert Gober, Tamar Guimarães and Kasper Akhøj, Guo Fengyi, João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Wade Guyton, Haitian Vodou Flags, Duane Hanson, Sharon Hayes, Camille Henrot, Daniel Hesidence, Roger Hiorns, Channa Horwitz, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, René Iché, Hans Josephsoh, Kan Xuan, Bouchra Khalili, Ragnar Kjartansson, Eva Kotátková, Evgenij Kozlov, Emma Kunz, Maria Lassnig, Mark Leckey, Augustin Lesage, Lin Xue, Herbert List, José Antonio Suárez Londoño, Sarah Lucas, Helen Marten, Paul McCarthy, Steve McQueen, Prabhavathi Meppayil, Marisa Merz, Pierre Molinier, Matthew Monahan, Laurent Montaron, Melvin Moti, Matt Mullican, Ron Nagle, Bruce Nauman, Albert Oehlen, Shinro Ohtake, J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, Henrik Olesen, John Outterbridg, Paño Drawings, Marco Paolini, Diego Perrone, Walter Pichler, Otto Piene, Eliot Porter, Imran Qureshi, Carol Rama, Charles Ray, James Richards, Achilles G. Rizzoli, Pamela Rosenkranz, Dieter Roth, Viviane Sassen, Shinichi Sawada, Hans Schärer, Karl Schenker, Michael Schmidt, Jean-Frédéric Schnyder, Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern, Tino Sehgal, Richard Serra, Shaker Gift Drawings, Jim Shaw, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons e Allan McCollum, Drossos P. Skyllas, Harry Smith, Xul Solar, Christiana Soulou, Eduard Spelterini, Rudolf Steiner, Hito Steyerl, Papa Ibra Tall, Dorothea Tanning, Anonymous Tantric Paintings, Ryan Trecartin, Rosemarie Trockel, Andra Ursuta, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, Stan VanDerBeek, Erik van Lieshout, Danh Vo, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Günter Weseler, Jack Whitten, Cathy Wilkes, Christopher Williams, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Kohei YoshiyUKi, Sergey Zarva, Anna Zemánková, Jakub Julian Ziółkowski ,Artur Żmijewski.
Encyclopedic Palace is curated by Massimiliano Gioni
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other pavilions at Venice Biennale
Andorra Artists: Javier Balmaseda, Samantha Bosque, Fiona Morrison
Commissioner: Henry Périer Deputy Commissioners: Francesc Rodríguez, Ermengol Puig, Ruth Casabella
Curators: Josep M. Ubach, Paolo De Grandis
Angola Artist: Edson Chagas Commissioner: Ministry of Culture
Curators: Beyond Entropy (Paula Nascimento, Stefano Rabolli Pansera), Jorge Gumbe, Feliciano dos Santos
Argentina Artist: Nicola Costantino Commissioner: Magdalena Faillace Curator: Fernando Farina
Armenia Artist: Ararat SarkissianCurator: Arman Grogoryan
AustraliaArtist: Simryn Gill Commissioner: Simon Mordant Deputy Commissioner: Penelope Seidler Curator: Catherine de Zegher
AustriaArtist: Mathias Poledna ,Curator: Jasper Sharp
AzerbaijanArtists: Rashad Alakbarov, Sanan Aleskerov, Chingiz Babayev, Butunay Hagverdiyev, Fakhriyya Mammadova, Farid Rasulov
Commissioner: Heydar Aliyev FoundationCurator: Hervé Mikaeloff
Bahamas Artist: Tavares Strachan Commissioner: Nalini Bethel, Ministry of Tourism Curators: Jean Crutchfield, Robert HobbsDeputy Curator: Stamatina Gregory
BangladeshChhakka Artists’ Group: Mokhlesur Rahman, Mahbub Zamal, A. K. M. Zahidul Mustafa, Ashok Karmaker, Lala Rukh Selim, Uttam Kumar Karmaker. Dhali Al Mamoon, Yasmin Jahan Nupur, Gavin Rain, Gianfranco Meggiato, Charupit School
Commissioner/Curator: Francesco Elisei. , Curator: Fabio Anselmi.
BahrainArtists: Mariam Haji, Waheeda Malullah, Camille Zakharia
Commissioner: Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Culture
Curator: Melissa Enders-Bhatiaa
BelgiumArtist: Berlinde De Bruyckere
Commissioner: Joke Schauvliege, Flemish Minister for Environment, Nature and Culture .Curator: J. M. Coetzee ,Deputy Curator: Philippe Van Cauteren
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Artist: Mladen Miljanovic .Commissioners: Sarita Vujković, Irfan Hošić
Brazil Artists: Hélio Fervenza, Odires Mlászho, Lygia Clark, Max Bill, Bruno Munari
Commissioner: Luis Terepins, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo,Curator: Luis Pérez-Oramas ,Deputy Curator: André Severo
CanadaArtist: Shary Boyle
Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada ,Curator: Josée Drouin-Brisebois
Central AsiaArtists: Vyacheslav Akhunov, Sergey Chutkov, Saodat Ismailova, Kamilla Kurmanbekova, Ikuru Kuwajima, Anton Rodin, Aza Shade, Erlan Tuyakov
Commissioner: HIVOS (Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation)
Deputy Commissioner: Dean Vanessa Ohlraun (Oslo National Academy of the Arts/The Academy of Fine Art)
Curators: Ayatgali Tuleubek, Tiago Bom
Scientific Committee: Susanne M. Winterling
ChileArtist: Alfredo JaarCommissioner: CNCA, National Council of Culture and the Arts Curator: Madeleine Grynsztejn
ChinaArtists: He Yunchang, Hu Yaolin, Miao Xiaochun, Shu Yong, Tong Hongsheng, Wang Qingsong, Zhang Xiaotao
Commissioner: China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG) ,Curator: Wang Chunchen
Costa Rica Artists: Priscilla Monge, Esteban Piedra, Rafael Ottón Solís, Cinthya Soto
Commissioner: Francesco EliseiCurator: Francisco Córdoba, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (Fiorella Resenterra)
Croatia Artist: Kata Mijatovic ,Commissioner/Curator: Branko Franceschi.
CubaArtists: Liudmila and Nelson, Maria Magdalena Campos & Neil Leonard, Sandra Ramos, Glenda León, Lázaro Saavedra, Tonel, Hermann Nitsch, Gilberto Zorio, Wang Du, H.H.Lim, Pedro Costa, Rui Chafes, Francesca Leone ,Commissioner: Miria Vicini
Curators: Jorge Fernández Torres, Giacomo Zaza
CyprusArtists: Lia Haraki, Maria Hassabi, Phanos Kyriacou, Constantinos Taliotis, Natalie Yiaxi, Morten Norbye Halvorsen, Jason Dodge, Gabriel Lester, Dexter Sinister
Commissioner: Louli Michaelidou
Deputy Commissioners: Angela Skordi, Marika Ioannou
Curator: Raimundas Malašauskas
Czech Republic & Slovak RepublicArtists: Petra Feriancova, Zbynek Baladran ,Commissioner: Monika Palcova, Curator: Marek Pokorny
DenmarkArtist: Jesper Just in collaboration with Project ProjectsEgypt
Artists: Mohamed Banawy, Khaled Zaki
EstoniaArtist: Dénes Farkas ,Commissioner: Maria Arusoo ,Curator: Adam Budak
FinlandArtist: Antti Laitinen , Commissioner: Raija Koli , Curators: Marko Karo, Mika Elo, Harri Laakso
FranceArtist: Anri Sala ,Curator: Christine Macel
GeorgiaArtists: Bouillon Group,Thea Djordjadze, Nikoloz Lutidze, Gela Patashuri with Ei Arakawa and Sergei Tcherepnin, Gio Sumbadze
Commissioner: Marine Mizandari, First Deputy Minister of Culture Curator: Joanna Warsza
GermanyArtists: Ai Weiwei, Romuald Karmakar, Santu Mofokeng, Dayanita Singh Commissioner/Curator: Susanne Gaensheimer
Great BritainArtist: Jeremy Deller ,Commissioner: Andrea Rose , Curator: Emma Gifford-Mead
Holy SeeArtists: Lawrence Carroll, Josef Koudelka, Studio Azzurro ,Curator: Antonio Paolucci
Hungary , Artist: Zsolt Asztalos , Curator: Gabriella Uhl
Iceland , Artist: Katrín Sigurðardóttir ,Commissioner: Dorotheé Kirch
Curators: Mary Ceruti , Ilaria Bonacossa
IndonesiaArtists: Albert Yonathan Setyawan, Eko Nugroho, Entang Wiharso, Rahayu Supanggah, Sri Astari, Titarubi
Deputy Commissioner: Achille Bonito Oliva , Assistant Commissioner: Mirah M. Sjarif
Curators: Carla Bianpoen, Rifky Effendy
IraqArtists: Abdul Raheem Yassir, Akeel Khreef, Ali Samiaa, Bassim Al-Shaker, Cheeman Ismaeel, Furat al Jamil, Hareth Alhomaam, Jamal Penjweny, Kadhim Nwir, WAMI (Yaseen Wami, Hashim Taeeh)
Commissioner: Tamara Chalabi (Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture)Curator: Jonathan Watkins.
IrelandArtist: Richard MosseCommissioner, Curator: Anna O’Sullivan
Israel , Artist: Gilad Ratman , Commissioners: Arad Turgeman, Michael GovCurator: Sergio Edelstein
ItalyArtists: Francesco Arena, Massimo Bartolini, Gianfranco Baruchello, Elisabetta Benassi, Flavio Favelli, Luigi Ghirri, Piero Golia, Francesca Grilli, Marcello Maloberti, Fabio Mauri, Giulio Paolini, Marco Tirelli, Luca Vitone, Sislej Xhafa ,Commissioner: Maddalena Ragni
Curator: Bartolomeo Pietromarchi
Ivory Coast Artists: Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Tamsir Dia, Jems Koko Bi, Franck Fanny
Commissioner: Paolo De Grandis , Curator: Yacouba Konaté
Japan ,Artist: Koki Tanaka ,Curator: Mika Kuraya
KenyaArtists: Kivuthi Mbuno, Armando Tanzini, Chrispus Wangombe Wachira, Fan Bo, Luo Ling & Liu Ke, Lu Peng, Li Wei, He Weiming, Chen Wenling, Feng Zhengjie, César MeneghettiCommissioner: Paola Poponi ,Curators: Sandro Orlandi, Paola Poponi
Korea (Republic of)Artist: Kimsooja
KosovoArtist: Petrit Halilaj ,Commissioner: Erzen Shkololli ,Curator: Kathrin Rhomberg
KuwaitArtists: Sami Mohammad, Tarek Al-Ghoussein
Commissioner: Mohammed Al-Asoussi ,Curator: Ala Younis
Latin AmericaIstituto Italo-Latino Americano
Artists:Marcos Agudelo, Miguel Alvear & Patricio Andrade, Susana Arwas, François Bucher, Fredi Casco, Colectivo Quintapata (Pascal Meccariello, Raquel Paiewonsky, Jorge Pineda, Belkis Ramírez), Humberto Díaz, Sonia Falcone, León & Cociña, Lucía Madriz, Jhafis Quintero, Martín Sastre, Guillermo Srodek-Hart, Juliana Stein, Simón Vega, Luca Vitone, David Zink Yi.
Harun Farocki & Antje Ehmann. In collaboration with: Cristián Silva-Avária, Anna Azevedo, Paola Barreto, Fred Benevides, Anna Bentes, Hermano Callou, Renata Catharino, Patrick Sonni Cavalier, Lucas Ferraço Nassif, Luiz Garcia, André Herique, Bruna Mastrogiovanni, Cezar Migliorin, Felipe Ribeiro, Roberto Robalinho, Bruno Vianna, Beny Wagner, Christian Jankowski ,Commissioner: Sylvia Irrazábal ,Curator: Alfons Hug
Deputy Curator: Paz Guevara
Latvia Artists: Kaspars Podnieks, Krišs Salmanis ,Commissioners: Zane Culkstena, Zane Onckule ,Curators: Anne Barlow, Courtenay Finn, Alise Tifentale
LithuaniaArtist: Gintaras Didžiapetris, Elena Narbutaite, Liudvikas Buklys, Kazys Varnelis, Vytaute Žilinskaite, Morten Norbye Halvorsen, Jason Dodge, Gabriel Lester, Dexter SinisterCommissioners: Jonas Žokaitis, Aurime Aleksandraviciute . Curator: Raimundas Malašauskas
LuxembourgArtist: Catherine LorentCommissioner: Clément Minighetti Curator: Anna Loporcaro
MexicoArtist: Ariel Guzik ,Commissioner: Gastón Ramírez Feltrín ,Curator: Itala Schmelz
Montenegro ,Artist: Irena Lagator Pejovic .Commissioner/Curator: Nataša Nikcevic
The Netherlands ,Artist: Mark Manders
Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund ,Curator: Lorenzo Benedetti
New Zealand Artist: Bill Culbert ,Commissioner: Jenny Harper ,Deputy Commissioner: Heather Galbraith ,Curator: Justin Paton
Venue: Santa Maria della Pietà, Calle della Pietà, Castello
Finland: ,Artist: Terike Haapoja ,Commissioner: Raija Koli ,Curators: Marko Karo, Mika Elo, Harri Laakso
Norway:Artists: Edvard Munch, Lene Berg
Curators: Marta Kuzma, Pablo Lafuente, Angela Vettese
Paraguay Artists: Pedro Barrail, Felix Toranzos, Diana Rossi, Daniel Milessi ,Commissioner: Elisa Victoria Aquino Laterza
Deputy Commissioner: Nori Vaccari Starck , Curator: Osvaldo González Real
Poland Artist: Konrad Smolenski Commissioner: Hanna Wróblewska Curators: Agnieszka Pindera, Daniel Muzyczuk
Portugal Artist: Joana Vasconcelos Curator: Miguel Amado
RomaniaArtists: Maria Alexandra Pirici, Manuel Pelmus Commissioner: Monica Morariu Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damia Curator: Raluca Voinea
Artists: Anca Mihulet, Apparatus 22 (Dragos Olea, Maria Farcas,Erika Olea), Irina Botea, Nicu Ilfoveanu, Karolina Bregula, Adi Matei, Olivia Mihaltianu, Sebastian MoldovanCommissioner: Monica Morariu ,Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damian ,Curator: Anca Mihulet
Russia Artist: Vadim Zakharov ,Commissioner: Stella Kasaeva ,Curator: Udo Kittelmann
Serbia Artists: Vladimir Peric, Miloš Tomic .Commissioner: Maja Ciric
SloveniaArtist: Jasmina CibicCommissioner: Blaž Peršin ,Curator: Tevž Logar
South Africa Commissioner: Saul Molobi ,Curator: Brenton Maart
Spain Artist: Lara Almarcegui , Commissioner/Curator: Octavio Zaya
Switzerland Artist: Valentin Carron Commissioners: Pro Helvetia - Sandi Paucic and Marianne Burki
Curator: Giovanni CarmineVenue: Pavilion at Giardini
Syrian Arab RepublicArtists: Giorgio De Chirico, Miro George, Makhowl Moffak, Al Samman Nabil, Echtai Shaffik, Giulio Durini, Dario Arcidiacono, Massimiliano Alioto, Felipe Cardena, Roberto Paolini, Concetto Pozzati, Sergio Lombardo, Camilla Ancilotto, Lucio Micheletti, Lidia Bachis, Cracking Art Group, Hannu Palosuo
Commissioner: Christian Maretti Curator: Duccio Trombadori
Taiwan Artists: Bernd Behr, Chia-Wei Hsu, Kateřina Šedá + BATEŽO MIKILU Curator: Esther Lu
Thailand Artists: Wasinburee Supanichvoraparch, Arin Rungjang
Curators: Penwadee Nophaket Manont, Worathep Akkabootara
Turkey Artist: Ali Kazma Commissioner: Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts Curator: Emre Baykal
Venue: Forte Marghera, via Forte Marghera, 30
Ukraine Artists: Ridnyi Mykola, Zinkovskyi Hamlet, Kadyrova Zhanna Commissioner: Victor Sydorenko
Curators: Soloviov Oleksandr, Burlaka Victoria
United Arab Emirates Artist: Mohammed Kazem
Commissioner: Dr. Lamees Hamdan Curator: Reem Fadda
Uruguay Artist: Wifredo Díaz Valdéz
Commissioner: Ricardo Pascale Curators: Carlos Capelán, Verónica Cordeiro
USA Artist: Sarah Sze Commissioners/Curators: Carey Lovelace, Holly Block
Venezuela Colectivo de Artistas Urbanos Venezolanos , Commissioner: Edgar Ernesto González Curator: Juan Calzadilla
“1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei” in New York, 4/17/2011 - notes.jasonbc.com
More images from the protest @ www.facebook.com/jasonbc.foto
Surrounding the two geometric sculptures are photos of the 2008 Beijing Olympic National Stadium under construction. Ai Weiwei collaborated on the design of the stadium.
laughingsquid.com/circle-of-animals-zodiac-heads-by-ai-we...
photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid
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Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.
Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.
Like many of Ai Weiwei's pieces there is a sinister story behind this work. While pushing his son in the pushchair he became aware of someone taking photographs. The man claimed to be a tourist but Ai seized his camera and extracted the memory card. Back at the studio he discovered that it contained hundreds of images of his family.
Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.
Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.
Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.
Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.
Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.
Ai Weiwei: Roots
2 October – 2 November 2019
www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-roots
Ai Weiwei
A major exhibition by Ai Weiwei this autumn features a new series of monumental sculptural works in iron, cast from giant tree roots sourced in Brazil during research and production for last year’s survey exhibition, ‘Raiz’, at the Oscar Niemeyer-designed OCA Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo.
Ai worked with local artisans and communities across Brazil, visiting Trancoso in the east to locate roots and trunks from the endangered Pequi Vinagreiro tree, typically found in the Bahian rainforest. Elements of these rare tree roots, some of which could be over a thousand years old, were painstakingly moulded, conjoined and then cast to create striking compositions and bold forms that reflect their Brazilian heritage. While some resemble great jungle beasts or fantastical creatures, such as the three- and four-legged works Fly and Level, others including Party and Martin (all 2019) consist of shattered, exploded root forms radiating outwards from a central nexus. The titles all came as suggestions from Ai Weiwei’s young son Ai Lao, based on his personal observations or connections made when visiting these tree remains with his father, adding to the sense of surreal displacement and alien disjointedness in the exhibition. This incongruous atmosphere speaks further of the works’ depiction of the state of ‘uprootedness’, one that mirrors not only the artist’s peripatetic existence after being allowed to leave China in 2015, but also the plight of the refugees he has spent the last few years documenting, as well as the various indigenous populations that rely on the trees and forests of Brazil for their habitats and sustenance. The deforestation and concomitant purge of peoples and resources relates to previous bodies of work produced by Ai and to the current political realities of many countries, including his native China.
The material employed in making the Roots series – cast iron covered in a patina of orange rust – likewise responds to ancient cultures and man’s first tools for tree felling and woodworking, rather than to the recent, more polite art history of bronze or steel sculpture. Although originally contorted by their surrounding landscapes, these roots were not born of nature but made and crafted by human hands, using the ancient techniques of ‘lost wax’ moulding and then iron casting. These methods represent a traditional, largely bygone way of life that has been usurped and upended by industrialisation and relentless modernisation, illustrating how progress can often come at the expense of cultural and societal well-being.
Contrasting with these heavy, land-bound creatures is a number of floating figures, clouds and dream-like vignettes. Ai has been producing delicate sculptures from stretched silk over bamboo armatures for the past five years, employing a group of Chinese kite makers based in Weifang, a city in Shandong province. Purported to have been invented in China around 500 BC by a carpenter and a philosopher, the kite has held many functions throughout history from measuring distances or wind speed, to communication and military usage. Ai’s kites refer back to a mythological encyclopaedia of monsters and creatures known as Shan Hai Jing (the Classic of Mountains and Seas) that also pre-dated Christianity, which depicts fantastical hybrids of chimera, gorgons, unicorns, dragons and griffins. Alongside this bestiary, Ai has added personal and childhood symbols, as well as references back to his own works – Surveillance Camera and his one-fingered salutes, the Study of Perspective series – and those of his influences, including Marcel Duchamp and Vladimir Tatlin.
Finally, the show ends with a development of Ai’s experimentation with LEGO bricks. These new wall-based works feature politically-charged, pixelated renderings of the trajectory of a refugee boat refused docking at Lampedusa after two weeks at sea, the front page of the Mueller report into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, as well as a deconstructed symbol of the contentious protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
A new book, also entitled Roots – featuring contributions from nature writer Robert Macfarlane; the curator of ‘Raiz’, Marcello Dantas; the Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Christina Yu Yu; Brazilian anthropologist Lilia Moritz Schwarcz among others – will be published by Distanz on the occasion of this exhibition, which is presented in collaboration with Ai’s Berlin gallery, neugerriemschneider.