ArtDependence | Ai Weiwei In Search Of Humanity at Kunsthal Rotterdam

Kunsthal Rotterdam is proud to present a large-scale exhibition by one of today’s most prominent artists, the tireless activist, and critic of authoritarian power systems Ai Weiwei. In Search of Humanity will be his most comprehensive retrospective to date. Including cultural ready-mades, paintings, works made from LEGO bricks, sculptures, installations, photography, and video works, the exhibition will present an impressive overview of Ai Weiwei's over-four-decades-spanning career and feature key works from all his different creative periods.

EVERYTHING IS ART. EVERYTHING IS POLITICS.Ai Weiwei

ARTIST AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

This must-see exhibition offers an insight into the life of the world-famous Chinese artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei, such as his childhood spent in exile as a result of the Cultural Revolution, the suppressed students’ protests in Beijing, and his personal incarceration in 2011. His artworks show his quest for a better world. The artist believes we all have a responsibility to take action against threats to freedom of speech and violations of human rights – from the Chinese government’s intimidation techniques and the call for freedom, to warfare and the current global refugee crisis.

LEGO ARTWORKS AND PORCELAIN SUNFLOWER SEED

The exhibition shows 120 of his artworks, including Forever Bicycles (2003), a large bicycle sculpture made from bicycles without handlebars to emphasize that you are not in control, in reference to the dominant Chinese regime. With Sunflower Seeds (2010), a floor with 100 thousand hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds, Ai Weiwei challenges the ‘Made in China’ mantra that China is known for. Also shown are the iconic photographs in which he raises his middle finger to famous international monuments. With little LEGO bricks Ai Weiwei realises disturbing images, for instance of a drowned refugee, or of his arrest in Illumination (2019), thereby robbing this popular toy of its childlike innocence.

Ai Weiwei, Illumination (2019)

FOUR DECADES WORTH OF ARTWORKS

In Search of Humanity pays attention to all periods in Ai Weiwei’s wide-ranging career and offers insight into the unique aesthetic principles of his artworks. Characteristic of his earliest art are his childhood memories from China. In these surprising and mysterious works, he combines things that have no logical or functional connection: a shovel in a warm fur coat, for instance, or two shoes that appear to be embracing each other like mating dung beetles. Fragments, deformations, and remains in all shapes and sizes frequently appear in Ai Weiwei’s work. They reflect his experiences as a dissident.

A LASTING TESTIMONY TO INHUMANITY

Ai Weiwei’s ready-mades are everyday objects that he gives a new meaning to by elevating them to the level of art. Examples of this are Julian Assange’s treadmill that now symbolises his hopeless situation, or a toy panda stuffed with classified NSA documents. In this way he puts topical political issues on prominent display. The artist wants to prevent us from forgetting about these important problems as we have often gotten use to their representation in the media. Ai for instance manages to again direct our attention to the catastrophe of migration with an artwork featuring lifejackets that were left on the beach by refugees.

THE POWERFUL MESSAGE OF ART

Ai Weiwei's metamorphoses and transformations appear to be useless monuments to things. The resulting confusion opens the door to new associations and interpretations and gives us valuable food for thought, especially at a time like today when democracy is in under attack. The exhibition shows how powerful art can be.