The "Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn" Exhibit (Washington D.C., U.S.A.)

 

Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn Exhibit

The Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn Exhibit, opened last June 28, 2017 at the  Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, is a collaborative artist project featuring the East Coast debut of the monumental installation Trace.

Check out "Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden"

 

Ai Weiwei

It portrays 176 individuals, from more than 30 countries (the majority of whom are from Asia and the Middle East) whom Ai Weiwei (b. Beijing, 1957), one of China’s most provocative living artists, and various human rights groups consider to be activists, prisoners of conscience, and advocates of free speech who have been detained, exiled, or have sought political asylum because of their actions, beliefs or affiliations. The show runs until January 1, 2018.

 

Trace.  On the right wall is the 360-degree wallpaper installation entitled The Plain Version of the Animal That Looks Like a Llama but Is Really an Alpaca

The work foregrounds Ai Weiwei’s own experiences of incarceration, interrogation, and surveillance. In 2011, he was detained by the Chinese government for 81 days and then, until 2015, prohibited from traveling abroad.  Each of these portraits, comprising thousands of plastic Lego bricks, were assembled by hand and laid out on the floor.

Biography/Timeline of Ai Weiwei

 

Complementing the display of Trace is a new 360-degree wallpaper installation entitled The Plain Version of the Animal That Looks Like a Llama but Is Really an Alpaca. At first glance, the repeating graphic pattern looks merely decorative.  However, at closer inspection, it reveals surveillance cameras, handcuffs, and Twitter bird logos (which allude to Ai Weiwei’s tweets challenging authority). Together, both massive works span nearly 700 linear feet around the Hirshhorn’s second floor Outer Ring galleries.

 

Some of the 176 portraits

Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn Exhibit: 2/F, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: 700 Independence Ave SW & 7th St SW, National Mall, Washington, D.C. 20560, United States.  Website: www.hirshhorn.si.edu. Admission is free.  Open daily, 10 AM – 5:30 PM.