Ai Weiwei
dal 14/10/2011 al 17/3/2012
Segnalato da
14/10/2011
Ai Weiwei
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Dropping the Urn (Ceramic Works, 5000 BC - AD 2010). Featuring a selection of ceramic works and photographs made from 1993 to the present day this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view some of the most iconic works in the field of Chinese contemporary art. It will include examples of Ai's use of Neolithic and Han dynasty ceramic vessels as 'ready-mades', which the artist transforms and reinterprets using a variety of procedures, some of which are captured and presented in a short film.
Ai Weiwei is recognised throughout the world as a key figure at the forefront of contemporary art in China.
His artistic practice encompasses a wide range of media, from architecture and sculpture to photography, and film. He has conducted a particularly fruitful investigation of ceramics, and it is this medium that forms the main focus of this exhibition.
Ai was born in Beijing in 1957, son of the renowned Chinese poet Ai Qing (1910-1996). After attending the Beijing Film Academy in the 1970’s he moved to the United States in 1981, eventually settling in New York. It was in America that Ai first began to experiment with ‘ready-made’ objects as a key part of his artistic practice, under the strong influence of Marcel Duchamp.
On his return to Beijing in 1993 Ai turned his attention to classical Chinese artistic traditions and crafts. Many of the works he made during the 1990’s such as Untitled, 1993 act as a commentary on China’s transformation during this period and the impact of capitalism on cultural heritage and traditional artistic practices.
Featuring a selection of ceramic works and photographs made from 1993 to the present day this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view some of the most iconic works in the field of Chinese contemporary art.
It will include examples of Ai’s use of Neolithic and Han dynasty ceramic vessels as ‘ready-mades’, which the artist transforms and reinterprets using a variety of procedures, some of which are captured and presented in a short film. It will also feature an installation of Ai Weiwei’s intriguing and deceptive ceramic sunflower seeds, which represent one of the artist’s most recent projects.
Through his work Ai engages with issues pertinent to contemporary China, notably the loss of historic material culture due to rapid modernization and the effects of the global economy on traditional modes of production. His work also engages with broader themes, including perceptions of value, mass production, globalization and concepts of the ‘fake’ and the ‘real’.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue in Chinese and English, featuring four essays by Philip Tinari, Dario Gamboni, Stacey Pierson and Glenn Adamson.
‘Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn’ has been organized by Arcadia University Art Gallery and supported by The Pew Centre for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative.
This exhibition has been supported by the Friends of the V&A and Travel with the V&A: China
We are grateful to the Secretary of State, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council for the generous provision of UK Government Indemnity for this exhibition.
Further information can be obtained by contacting our Press Office at press.office@vam.ac.uk
For further Press information please contact Alice Evans or Elinor Hughes in the V&A press office on 020 7942
2508 / 2500 or email a.evans@vam.ac.uk / e.hughes@vam.ac.uk
Image: Coca-Cola vase, Ai Weiwei, 1997, Neolithic vase (5000-3000 BC) and paint. Courtesy of André Stockamp & Christopher Tsai collection, Ancram, New York
Victoria & Albert Museum
Cromwell Road London
Open daily 10.00 – 17.45 and until 22.00 every Friday
Tickets: £11 (concessions available)
V&A Members go free