THURSDAY, SEPT. 14 11:30 AM, Hirschhorn Museum
One of China’s most provocative living artists, Ai Weiwei (pronounced eye weigh weigh) has spent nearly four decades exploring the relationships between art, society, and individual experience. His work is everywhere these days, with two installations about refugees and walls in New York City currently. His work is eclectic, encompasses a wide range of media, including sculpture, installation, photography, film, painting, and architecture. Ai Weiwei has sought to incite change through his art since the late 1970s, and as his work has developed, he has become increasingly committed to his guiding principle of promoting human rights and freedom of expression for all.
A collaborative artist project, Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn features the East Coast debut of the monumental installation Trace, which portrays individuals from around the world whom the artist and various human rights groups consider to be activists, prisoners of conscience, and advocates of free speech. Each of these 176 portraits comprises thousands of plastic LEGO® bricks, assembled by hand and laid out on the floor.
Like Ai Weiwei, the individuals represented in Trace have been detained, exiled, or have sought political asylum because of their actions, beliefs, or affiliations. The subjects were chosen by Ai Weiwei and reflect his response to information provided by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, as well as his own independent research. Trace includes individuals from more than thirty countries, the majority of whom are from Asia and the Middle East, reflecting Ai’s familiarity with the region.
Originally commissioned in 2014, Trace first opened as part of @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, a site-specific takeover of the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco, and a collaboration between the nonprofit FOR-SITE Foundation, the National Park Service, and the Golden Gate Park Conservancy.
Please RSVP to Lucy Cooney at lucy1030@starpower.net. Meeting point and additional information will be provided later.