1983-1993, ten years during which Chinese artist Ai Weiwei lived, studied and worked in New York, taking more than 10,000 pictures. His vision captured history, culture, atmosphere and a city where creative freedom, social conflict and changing politics comingled during the 1980’s. His goal was neither to criticize nor brandish opinions, just to record the life he was living.
To the question “Do you ever think of yourself as a documentarian?” he answers, “No, because that would be working within a system. I am much more casual, it’s wandering here and there, like my cats.”
Over 220 black and white prints are on display at Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin. The exhibition opened in the fall of 2011, after New York , it was first seen in Beijing at the Three Shadows Photography Art Center. The Center’s founders and directors, artists RongRong (China) and Inri (Japan), initiated the project of archiving and exposing Ai Weiwei’s pictures. The artist, and curators, made a selection from 350 films in storage for nearly 20 years.
Eva Gravayat
Ai Weiwei in New York – Photographs 1983 – 1993
Until March 18, 2012
Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
Niederkirchnerstraße 7
10963 Berlin
Ai Weiwei in New York – Photographs 1983-1993
336 pages, 22,3 x 20,9 cm, Softcover
DISTANZ Verlag
ISBN 978-3-942405-50-8
