Ai Weiwei to create art installations for Alcatraz
Ai Weiwei is an artist who knows a thing or two about doing time in jail. Next year the activist Beijing artist will exhibit a series of new installations at Alcatraz, the former island prison in San Francisco Bay.
The project, which was officially announced on Tuesday, will feature artwork located at four sites around the island. The exhibition will have new sculpture, sound and multimedia works that address subjects including activism, incarceration and freedom of speech, according to organizers.
“Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz” is scheduled to run Sept. 27, 2014, to April 26, 2015. The show is being organized by the San Francisco–based nonprofit FOR-SITE Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
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Since he was released from prison in 2011, Ai has been unable to travel abroad due to the terms of his bail. The artist, who has been an outspoken social activist, was put into secret detention in China for 81 days. His supporters believe that his incarceration was government retaliation for his activism, though the official reason is tax evasion.
His outspoken nature and his engagement with social media, especially Twitter, have helped to make Ai an international art figure.
Ai is the subject of a traveling museum survey titled “According to What?” The exhibition is set to open Wednesday at the Perez Art Museum Miami, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach.
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