Ai Weiwei (Chinese 1957 - ) HISTORY OF BOMBS

Hammer

R8,000

Ai Weiwei (Chinese 1957 - ) HISTORY OF BOMBS

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digitally signed by the artist, from the unnumbered edition of 1000, published by the Imperial War Museum, London, accompanied by a signed certificate of authenticity
offset lithograph on Arco wove
sheet size: 50 by 70cm; 58 by 78,5 by 3,5cm including framing


Coined “the most powerful artist in the world” by ArtReview editors (Stevens 2012), Beijing-born Ai Weiwei creates works where art and activism collide in a riot of politically charged, daring performances and spectacles. Ai Weiwei’s output is prolific and diverse, ranging from sculptural installations, to videos, to architectural projects, in an attempt to critique the random importance placed on objects and symbols within society and the arbitrariness of certain cultural values. Many of the important cultural symbols Ai Weiwei uses particularly reference his critique of the Chinese sociopolitical system, using scabrous satire to challenge and critique the authoritarian and conformist Chinese regime.

In 1957, just months after the artist was born, his father and renowned poet, Ai Qing, was accused of being ‘rightist’ by Beijing officials and the entire family was exiled to remote parts of China. Later, after studying art abroad, Ai Weiwei returned to China to develop his artistic practice. His time in New York was particularly pivotal, as he was influenced by the conceptual art of artists like Andy Warhol, so upon his return home, Ai Weiwei knew how to combine art and life. The artist’s Dada-inspired ready-mades and strong satirical elements reveal an unrelenting and brave advocacy for freedom of expression and social justice, presenting a provocative and subversive dimension that few, if any, other artists present to the world.

Ai Weiwei’s themes of social urgency and his attempt to address critical global conditions, namely political conflict and war, are brilliantly illustrated in History of Bombs (Lot 527). This lot is a framable print of the site-specific life-size renderings of over 50 bombs and grenades from 1911 to 2019, which stretched across the floor of the Imperial War Museum. The work unflinchingly illustrates “a history of the clever ways we kill one another” (Jones 2020). The technical, encyclopaedic collection of renderings highlights the chilling and incalculable destruction caused by human willingness and eagerness to dedicate innovation to violence. The exhibition was appropriately located, since the “murderous arsenal since the early 20th century” seemed unbelievable, until the visitor looked up and was confronted with models of the real weapons hanging from the museum’s ceiling. In this way, Ai Weiwei’s comments about the human condition are simultaneously unflinching, scabrous, and provocative.

Ai Weiwei has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions such as the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2009); Tate Modern, London (2010); and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (2012). The Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have also acquired his work.
- A.C

Cunningham, JM. 2022. Ai Weiwei, Chinese activist and artist, Britannica [O]:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ai-Weiwei
Accessed 8th May 2022
Jones, J. 2020. Ai Weiwei: History of Bombs review – high-impact reminder of our insatiable desire for destruction, The Guardian [O]:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jul/29/ai-weiwei-history-of-bombs-review-imperial-war-museum
Accessed 8 May 2022
Stevens, M. 2012. Is Ai Weiwei China’s Most Dangerous Man?, Smithsonian Magazine [O]:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/is-ai-weiwei-chinas-most-dangerous-man-17989316/
Accessed 8th May 2022