Ai Weiwei’s New Canvas: The Streets Of New York
There may be no bigger name in the art world right now than Ai Weiwei. His works fetch millions at auction. His clashes with the authorities in his native China have made him a symbol for free expression. Now, Ai Weiwei is trying to focus attention to an issue he cares deeply about — the growing number of refugees and displaced people around the globe.
“65 million people being pushed away from their homes. None of them really want to leave their country but they have to,” Ai said in an interview in Washington Square Park, where a nearly 40-foot cage he designed was recently installed in the hollow of the square’s famous marble arch. Â
The cage is just one element of Ai’s new public art project, “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors.” There are also banners with portraits of immigrants hanging from lamp posts, new fencing has been added behind the glass walls of bus shelters, and Queens’ Unisphere is now ringed by a nylon mesh “fence,” which people can climb over or lie on. In all, he and his team of designers and builders have created installations for more than 300 sites around the city, in all five boroughs.
For Ai, it’s a kind of homecoming. He lived in New York in the 1980’s and early 90’s, absorbing the gallery scene, and earning money by doing charcoal and pastel portraits near the West 4th Street subway station. He befriended Allen Ginsberg, and joined a demonstration against a police curfew in Washington Square Park.
“Washington Square was a square of people hanging out. And [I] used to come buy marijuana on the corner here, and it’s 20 bucks a plastic bag, small one — but now, [it] must be more expensive,” Ai said. “And this fountain, kids in summertime, kids running in the fountain. I have a lot of photos I’ve taken in that time.” Recently, Ai has been posting some of those photos to his very popular Instagram account.
The exhibit is supported by the Public Art Fund, and runs through February 2018.
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