Ai Weiwei

Fantastic exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the work of contemporary Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

From the first room of this show I was completely engaged by it and I hadn’t expected to be. I’d seen a few Ai WeiWei pieces before but not really understood them. This show, particularly the audio tour, really explained what the works mean, how they were made and the inspiration for them. In that first room was a wonderful low wooden structure called “Bed” which resembled a Chinese bed with ridges across it but the edges made the contours of the landscape of China. A huge piece of work but with a simple idea.

I loved his reuse of items from the past, old furniture, wood salvaged from temples and even the rubble from his own studio complex commissioned by a local council but ordered to be demolished by the government. I was a bit unsure about the repainting and breaking of ancient vases. I worry when an artist destroys an old work to make a new one! I get the meaning of it but the old piece is unsalvageable.

The best room for me had a work called “Straight” in it. Again a low landscape but this time made of metal bars from earthquake damaged buildings, straightened out and made into this huge work. The poor metal in the bars and their poor use in construction had been partly to blame for the scale of the destruction in the disaster. I loved the idea of the work that went into straightening the bars and the collaborative effort involved. I loved the fact that something which had been partly to blame for the death toll had been used in creating a memorial. I also found it a very soothing piece. I spent a lot of the time in the room looking at it for every angle. It had a similar effect on me to Anthony Gormley’s “Field” pieces with their repetitive little figures.

The large room with the six boxes you peeped into from the side or above which showed scenes from his imprisonment was fascinating. The claustrophobic effects of having two guards with you constantly yet not speaking to you, even watching you sleep, was horrific and so well represented by this work. I loved the added element here that the Michelangelo Tondo was looking down on it setting up a dialogue between Renaissance art and contemporary.

Finally I have to mention the beautiful chandelier of bicycle parts created for this exhibition and using the round central space so well. A great show!

Closed on 13 December 2015.

Reviews
Times
Guardian
Telegraph
Independent
Evening Standard

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Image
Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket. I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped. The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site. It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread. I think my...
Read more

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B...
Read more

The Renaissance Nude

Image
Beautiful exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the nude in Renaissance art. The show was gently themed but mainly let the pictures speak for themselves. It began by looking at the subjects, both religious and secular, which include nude figures then examined techniques and models used in these works, finishing by looking at more personal pictures. This is a period I’ve studied a lot so there were a lot of old friends and it was quite fun predicting what might appear. There were a few surprises too such as the rather surprising drawing of the Ecstatic Christ. I liked the fact the show included lots of different art forms not just paintings including sculpture, etchings, drawings and illuminated manuscripts. There were some fascinating hangs to draw comparisons particularly two sets of pictures by Giovanni Bellini and Hand Memling from almost exactly the same date. These were shown back to back in a display cabinet down the middle of one room. My favourite work was ...
Read more