Grand statements: Ai Weiwei unveils new works at Athens’ Cycladic Art Museum

For Ai Weiwei, Instagram has been a friend and an enemy. The pros are that the platform has multiplied his international fame tenfold, turning him into one of the app's biggest stars and also a defacto real time newswire, documenting the Syrian refugee crisis in Lesbos, the Syrian border and Beirut.
The negatives are people’s skepticism over his presence, wary of an ethical grey area that has seen his photos of the crisis become a prestigious body of work. A self-titled new exhibition at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens – on view until 30 October – tries to answer these questions.
‘We have to protect humanity. Through my art I’m trying to give a voice to people who might never be heard,’ Weiwei said at the exhibition opening, a showcase of photography and new sculpture in part profiling a five month-long period documenting the Syrian crisis. ‘I think it’s terrible that European governments are pushing refugees into Turkey. As an artist you use your emotions to communicate information to the world.’ The five-foot tall sculpture Standing Figure (2016) articulates his ideas on the power of governmental solidarity for refugees, as well nodding to his previous work criticising governments – the sculpture’s outstretched arms a reference to his indictment of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the photo series Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995).
Weiwei admires the political and cultural models practiced by the Greeks and his life sized marble sculpture riff on the popular style of crafting human bodies at the beginning of the Cycladic era, which he fused with his love for grand statements, making his own seven-foot version. But it is Greece’s morality that the exhibition really lauds: ‘Greece showed elegance and respect to let refugees in and not to push people into the ocean; Greece’s decisions will be remembered by history,’ Weiwei states.
Divina Proportione, 2012, pictured here, doesn’t contain any nails – it was made in the traditional Chinese manner of joining wood
The sculpted balancing-act pictured here comprises 11 wooden stools from the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) forming a semi-spherical bowl. The stools have been fused by Chinese artisans who used traditional joinery techniques to merge the stools without breaking them. Pictured: Grapes, 2011
Weiwei admires the political and cultural models practiced by the Greeks and his life-sized marble sculpture nods to a style of crafting human bodies made popular at the beginning of the Cycladic era. Pictured: Standing Figure, 2015
The artist taking a selfie with one of his sculptures, Standing Figure, 2015
Ai Weiwei comments, ‘Greece showed elegance and respect to let refugees in and not to push people into the ocean; Greece’s decisions will be remembered by history.’ Pictured: Surveillance Camera With Plinth, 2015
‘We have to protect humanity. Through my art I’m trying to give a voice to people who might never be heard,’ Weiwei said at the exhibition opening. Pictured: Chandelier, 2015
INFORMATION
’Ai Weiwei at Cycladic’ is on view until 30 October. For more information, visit the Museum of Cycladic Art’s website
Photography courtesy the artist and the Museum of Cycladic Art
ADDRESS
Museum of Cycladic Art
4, Neophytou Douka str.
Athens 10674
-
Last chance to see: Sharjah Biennial 15, ‘Thinking Historically in the Present’
Built on the vision of late curator Okwui Enwezor, the Sharjah Biennial 15: ‘Thinking Historically in the Present’ offers a critical reframing of postcolonial narratives through major new commissions
By Amah-Rose Abrams • Published
-
For London Gallery Weekend 2023, the mood is hardcore
With London Gallery Weekend 2023 almost upon us (2 – 4 June), here’s our list of must-see art exhibitions
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Birkenstock celebrates its most memorable styles with colourful capsule (and matching socks)
Birkenstock marks the 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of the Gizeh, Arizona and Madrid sandals, respectively, with limited-edition versions
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Last chance to see: Rolex Arts Festival exhibition in Athens
Following a week of dynamic festivities to mark 20 years of the Rolex Mentors & Protégés programme, it’s the last chance to see the festival’s exhibition at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Αthens, until 4 June 2023
By Bill Prince • Published
-
The best London art exhibitions: a guide for this weekend
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions this weekend, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Harriet Lloyd Smith • Published
-
Sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro transforms Fendi’s Rome HQ into a theatre of myth and magic
Fendi’s Roman HQ sets the scene for ‘Il Grande Teatro delle Civiltà’ a major show by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, who has also created a one-off edition of the house’s iconic Peekaboo bag. Read more in the July 2023 Issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands 8 June
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Superflex on building an underwater city for fish: ‘there are different rules down there’
Danish art collective Superflex discuss their ambitious Super Reef, an underwater urbanisation project aiming to restore more than 55 square kilometres of stone reef in Danish seas
By Alice Godwin • Published
-
Raffaele Salvoldi stacks hundreds of marble blocks for dazzling Milan installation
For a Milan Design Week 2023 installation, Italian artist Raffaele Salvoldi teams up with marble brand Salvatori to create architectural sculptures comprising hundreds of marble blocks
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
John Pawson unveils first-ever sculpture in Tokyo exhibition
At The Mass, Tokyo, British architect John Pawson stages his first solo exhibition in Japan, revealing his first sculpture and a new photography series
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Bosco Sodi’s monumental new Mexico City studio is a multifunctional feat
As Bosco Sodi unveils his new Studio CMDX in Atlampa, Mexico City, we speak to the artist about how the vast Alberto Kalach-designed former warehouse is a feat in multitasking
By Juliana Piskorz • Published
-
Ai Weiwei's largest-ever Lego artwork revealed at London’s Design Museum
At London’s Design Museum, Ai Weiwei has unveiled Water Lilies #1, a new Lego recreation of Claude Monet’s iconic painting. We explore the vast new work ahead of the Chinese artist’s major show at the museum, opening on 7 April 2023
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published