Reflections from Curator Philip Tinari
Ai Weiwei
Filmed for the occasion of Armory Focus: China at The Armory Show 2014 in New York City, curator Philip Tinari reflects on the work of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Tinari, director of The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing and curator of Armory Focus: China, notes Ai’s fascination with artists Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol and the resulting influence upon the artist’s work.
Philip Tinari began a partnership with Art21 in 2009, interviewing artist Cao Fei in Beijing for Season 5 (2009) of the “Art in the Twenty-First Century” series. Tinari would again partner with Art21 to interview artist Ai Weiwei in Beijing for Season 6 (2012).
Armory Focus is a specially curated section of The Armory Show that highlights the artistic landscape of a chosen geographic region. For The Armory Show 2014, Philip Tinari curated Armory Focus: China, shining new light on the country’s contemporary cultural practice.
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An outspoken human rights activist, Ai Weiwei infuses his sculptures, photographs, and public artworks with political conviction and personal poetry, often making use of recognizable and historic Chinese art forms in critical examinations of a host of contemporary Chinese political and social issues. In his sculptural works he often uses reclaimed materials—ancient pottery and wood from destroyed temples—in a conceptual gesture that connects tradition with contemporary social concerns. He also employs sarcasm, juxtaposition, and repetition to reinvigorate the potency and symbolism of traditional images and to reframe the familiar with minimal means.
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