Ai Weiwei: According to What?

A major retrospective of the artist's work, Ai Weiwei: According to What?, includes examples from the broad spectrum of the artist's practice, from sculpture, photography, and video to site-specific architectural installations.

April 5 through July 28, 2013

Throughout his career, Ai Weiwei has offered insights into the interrelation between art, society, and individual experience. A major retrospective of the artist’s work, Ai Weiwei: According to What?, includes examples from the broad spectrum of the artist’s practice, from sculpture, photography, and video to site-specific architectural installations.

The exhibition includes new works from Ai Weiwei, including a sculpture made from steel rebar that was salvaged from schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The piece points to the inferior construction that caused the schools to collapse, while other buildings remained unscathed. Wenchuan Steel Rebar (2008 - 2012) is a powerful indictment of the Chinese government and a monumental reminder of the many young people who died in the earthquake.

As one of China’s most provocative and vocal artists, Ai Weiwei’s focus on human rights and social change eventually led to his detainment by Chinese authorities in 2011 for nearly three months. The Chinese government later supplied charges of tax evasion against Ai Weiwei, which he vehemently denies. Since his detainment, Ai Weiwei has been kept under constant surveillance by the government—a circumstance that has lead him to create a series of new works including a marble surveillance camera that will be part of this exhibition.

Featuring over 30 works spanning more than twenty years, Ai Weiwei: According to What? explores universal topics of culture, history, politics, and tradition.

Ai Weiwei: According to What? was organized in close collaboration with the artist and his studio, and premiered in Tokyo at the Mori Art Museum in 2009. The exhibition was substantially re-conceived for the North American tour to include more recent works and reflect the many changes that have taken place in Ai Weiwei’s career and life. According to What? will be on view at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden from October 7, 2012 – Frebruary 24, 2013 before traveling to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.