Ai Weiwei – Disposition

Una nuova drammatica installazione dell’artista.

Comunicato stampa

As a Collateral Event of the 55. International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, Zuecca Projects will present an exhibition of new works by Ai Weiwei, from 29 May - 15 September 2013. The artist's only major new solo show in 2013, it will be presented across two locations in Venice: the Zitelle complex, home of Zuecca Projects, and the church of Sant’Antonin. Work by Ai Weiwei will also be on display elsewhere in the Venice Biennale as part of a group exhibition at the German Pavilion.
Curated by Maurizio Bortolotti, the exhibition will comprise landmark works showing Ai Weiwei at the height of his artistic and polemic powers. In Zuecca will be seen an expanded version of the artist's acclaimed sculptural installation Straight. First exhibited as part of his 2012 acclaimed survey show at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC., Straight is formed from multiple tons of steel rebar recovered from the collapsed schools in which more than five thousand children perished during the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China.
To be revealed during the opening week of the Venice Biennale, Ai Weiwei has specially conceived a new work for the Sant’Antonin church location. This will function as a dialogue between the artist and the existing architecture, offering an immediate sense of the drama of an event which underlines the contradictory development of contemporary China.
One of the leading cultural figures of his generation Ai Weiwei has consistently displayed great courage, placing himself at risk to affect social change through his art. He serves as an example for legitimate social criticism and free expression both in China and internationally.
The exhibition with Zuecca Projects represents a new chapter in the long-standing historical relationship - founded on trade, as well as religious and cultural exchange - that exists between China and Venice. The relationship will acquire fresh immediacy in light of the artist's interpretation of Contemporary China within the context of the city.
The exhibition is presented in collaboration with Lisson Gallery, which has represented and worked closely with Ai Weiwei since 2010, presenting acclaimed solo exhibitions of his work at its London and Milan locations.
Practical Information
Opening hours: 10am – 6 pm
Location 1: Complesso delle Zitelle, Giudecca
Vaporetto Stop: Zitelle
Location 2: Chiesa di Sant’ Antonin, Castello
Vaporetto Stop: San Marco – Pietà / San Zaccaria (da Zitelle)
For press information and images please contact:
International Press Contact: Pelham Communications
Toby Kidd and Amy Sutcliffe
Tel: +44 20 8969 3959
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Italy Press Contacts
Paola C. Manfredi Studio
Paola Manfredi and Marzia Gandini
T. +39 02 87238004
Email: [email protected]
Notes to Editors
About Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei was born in 1957 in Beijing, China, where he lives and works. Together with Herzog & de Meuron, he created the 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, and is the recipient of an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Previous solo exhibitions include Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC (2012); Lisson Gallery, Milan (2012); Kistefos-Museet, Jevnaker (2012); De Pont, Netherlands (2012); Jeu de Paume, Paris, (2012); Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2011) Lisson Gallery, London (2011); Somerset House, London (2011); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2011); Stiftung DKM, Duisburg (2010); Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland (2010); Arcadia University Gallery, Glenside (2010); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2009); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2009); Three Shadows Photography Art Center,Beijing (2009); Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Cambelltown Arts Center, Sydney (2008); Groninger Museum, Groningen (2008).
Group exhibitions include MoMA - Museum of Modern Art, New York City (2012); Ukrainian Biennale of Contemporary Art, Kiev (2012); Wolfsburg Kuntsmuseum, Wolfsburg (2012); Gl. Holtegaard, Holte (2011); Rotterdam, Rotterdam (2011); MoMA - Museum of Modern Art, New York City (2011); the São Paulo Biennial (2010); Biennale Architecture, Venice (2008); Documenta 12, Kassel (2007) and Tate Liverpool (2007).
About Zuecca Projects
Zuecca Project Space is a not for profit space for contemporary art on the island of Giudecca. The union between the historical context in which the Space stands and its vocation for the contemporary world makes it a unique venue in which both established and emerging artists can present the results of their endeavours to a public composed of contemporary art enthusiasts and professionals.
Zuecca Project Space’s mission is to act as a centre of excellence in the production and promotion of contemporary arts by means of a continuous process of exchanges of experience with local life and a communion of intents with some of the leading international cultural institutions.
About Alessandro Possati
Alessandro Possati is the Project Supervisor and Director of Zuecca Project Space. A graduate of the Bocconi Management in Art, Culture and Communication Faculty, he runs the non-profit space of the Zuecca Project Space and collaborates as External Relations Manager with Valorizzazioni Cultural. During his years of activity, Alessandro Possati has had the opportunity to work with major institutions such as the Guggenheim Foundation, Save Venice, Venice Heritage, the Palais de Tokyo, the Pinault Foundation and the Biennale in all its facets (Art, Film, Architecture, Theatre, Music and Dance). He has also worked with artists of international repute such as, among others, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Tony Cragg, Julian Schnabel, Jan Fabre, Wim Delvoye and Rirkrit Tiravanija.
About Maurizio Bortolotti
Curator of the Zuecca Program, Maurizio Bortolotti is also a professor and a member of the Scientific Committee of NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti di Milano, the Milan Design Academy) and Domus Academy. Publications include The Critic as Curator, Milan 2003, Pierre Restany. The Critic Who Was an Artist, Milan 2004 with Piero Casciani, Evento, Bordeaux, 2010; Unidentified Modern Cities, Zurich 2011; Map Office, Savannah, 2011. He has curated NoVitrines, No artists, No Museums: Just a Lot of People, with Rirkrit Tiravanija, Pierre Huyghe, Philippe Parreno (2004); Modelmania, with Olafur Eliasson, Kjetil Thorsen, Yona Friedman (2005), Venice; The Utopian Display Platform 2003-2006, Milan; Yona Friedman: A Project for Mart, 2006, MART, Rovereto, with Bert Theis and Marco Biraghi; SituazionIsola/A New Urbanism, Milan, 2007; Tomas Saraceno, Museo Aerosolar, Milan 2007; Yona Friedman Graffiti Museum, Festarch Cagliari 2007; Local Modernity/Global Expectations, Istanbul 2007; Platform Paradise, Ayn Hawd Israel, 2008; Insight Turkey.1. Ali Kazma. Obstructions, 2008. Insight Turkey.2. Kutlug Atman. Dictionary, Milan, 2009; served as Art Commissioner at Gwangju for the first International Art Fair in Gwangju, 2010; Dan Graham, Modelsand Video (with Gavin Wade), Birmingham 2011; Dan Graham/Gabriele Basilico. Unidentified Modern City, Brescia, 2011; Yona Friedman/Tomas Saraceno, Merzworld (with Adrian Notz), Zurich 2011; Orientale (with Shwetal Patel), Venice 2011; Yona Friedman. Halic Center, special project Istanbul Design Biennale 2012.
About Lisson Gallery
Established in 1967 by owner Nicholas Logsdail, Lisson Gallery has maintained its unique profile and position as one of the world’s most innovative, artist-led galleries, always at the forefront of developments in Contemporary art. Over the past forty five years Lisson Gallery has nurtured the careers of no fewer than five Turner Prize winners and identified and supported successive generations of intellectually cutting-edge conceptual artists with radical and distinctive approaches to the artistic possibilities of their times. This includes the pioneers of Minimal Conceptualism: Sol LeWitt, Peter Joseph and Robert Mangold; The New British Sculptors such as Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Anish Kapoor and Julian Opie; and newer generations that include Marina Abramovic, Allora & Calzadilla, Ai Weiwei, and most recently Ryan Gander and Haroon Mirza.
This exhibition is part of the Lisson Presents programme, in which the Gallery opens its curatorial activity beyond its established gallery spaces in London and Milan, working with institutions and artists to present new initiatives around the world. Recent projects include ‘The Magic of the State,’ an exhibition and editorial initiative realised in collaboration with Beirut, a new art initiative and exhibition space in Cairo, Egypt; and ‘Nostalgia for the Future’, an exhibition of British Lisson Gallery.