About the Exhibition

August 17 – October 27, 2013

“The most powerful figure in contemporary art.” — ArtReview

Although Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is one of the most prolific, provocative and significant artists at work today, audiences in North America have had little exposure to his vast and varied output. That will change this summer, when the AGO becomes the only Canadian stop on a North American tour that is already drawing crowds — and controversy — at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.

Featuring photographs, sculpture, installation art and audio and video pieces, Ai Weiwei: According to What? examines how the artist spotlights the complexities of a changing world and probes such issues as freedom of expression, individual and human rights, the power of digital communication and the range of creative practice that characterizes contemporary art today both in China and globally.

Organized by Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, and the Art Gallery of Ontario

15 photos of the stunning Ai Weiwei exhibit at the AGO

Posted by Derek Flack / August 15, 2013

AI WEIWEI AGO TORONTO 2013

Ai Weiwei: According to What? runs August 17 to October 27 at the AGO.

Entering the exhibition, one encounters Snake Ceiling, 2009. The installation is composed of hundreds of backpacks, which refer to the over 5000 children killed in a 2008 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province.

Made up of sculptures, installations, photographs and video, the exhibit is as visually stunning a show as the AGO has put on in recent memory.

258 Fake, 2011 — 7677 images (taken between 2003-2011) displayed on the wall and 12 video monitors, many of which appeared on Weiwei's blog before being taken down by the Chinese government.

He Xei, 2010. Over 3000 porcelain river crabs gesture to the censorship Weiwei's work challenges (the Chinese word for harmonious is a homophone for river crab).

Grapes, 2010. Made of inter-connected wooden stools from the Qing Dynasty, the sculpture is meant to symbolize a stance that is both aggressive and defensive at once.

This 42-bike version of Forever Bicycles is a smaller version of the piece set to come to Nuit Blanche this year, which will feature 1200 bicycles.

A self-portrait when the artist was taken into custody by police in 2009.

Kippe, 2006. A pile of reclaimed wood topped with children's parallel bars gestures to Ai Weiwei's youth. The sculpture is reassembled each time it is installed.

Moon Chest, 2008. Seven moon chests are aligned such that the various phases of the moon are displayed when a viewer looks through them.

Names of the Student Earthquake Victims Found by the Citizens’ Investigation, 2008-2011. A massive grid of child victims who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.