Overcoat 2009
2 digital prints, found coat – signed
138 x 193 cm overall
Courtesy the artist
Ai Weiwei is both icon and cultural commentator – an artist, photographer, writer, book editor, curator and architect whose life trajectory has seen him move from family exile during the Cultural Revolution to working at the forefront of contemporary art in China.
Born in Beijing in 1957, Ai Weiwei enrolled at the Beijing Film Academy after returning from exile in rural China. He became a leader of the avant-garde ‘Stars’ group in 1979 and within several years moved to NewYork. When he returned to Beijing in 1993 to see his ailing father, he found a vibrant new art that challenged both Western influence and the oppressive Chinese system. In 2000 he co-curated a short-lived group exhibition critical of the orthodoxy of the Shanghai Biennale.
AiWeiwei’s ‘bird’s nest’ concept for the Beijing Olympic Stadium, in collaboration with architects Herzog & de Meuron, won him international recognition but did not silence his criticism of the Chinese Government.
Ai Weiwei has continued to make his mark through major collaborative architectural interventions and conceptual work using ready made and found materials ranging from Neolithic and Imperial porcelain to Qing Dynasty temple beams. His employment of skilled artisans to realise many of his works accords with his conviction that traditional craftsmanship must be actively fostered in 21st century China.
Ai Weiwei’s work has been shown extensively in Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and the United States. Major exhibitions include his Fairytale project for Documenta XII; the Biennale of Sydney; the Guangzhou Triennial; Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai; Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery; and the Venice Biennale.
He has completed commissions for the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation Sydney, Campbelltown Arts Centre and Tate Liverpool UK, and recently exhibited work at the Comme des Garçons store in Hong Kong. His exhibition at Museum DKM in Duisburg, Germany, opens in March 2010.
The artist commented that the “the man in the photo is a colleague, who posed for the images. These kind of green jackets are originally from the Chinese army, but are also worn - in a simpler version - by civilians in winter. The jacket is based on these jackets, but some small changes were made, like the folded edge in the front.”
