Installation view of the Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, 11 December 2015 – 24 April 2016. Ai Weiwei artwork © Ai Weiwei. Photo: Brooke Holm.
Patterns of soft morning light from the stained glass of the Leonard French ceiling above skitter from walls to floor in the Great Hall at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). Film crews and official photographers navigate the excited buzz of the crowded room but all becomes quiet as the Director, Tony Ellwood, makes his way to the stage for the media opening of the Andy Warhol-Ai Weiwei exhibition: the first major exhibition for two of the most influential artists of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. But the crowd wait quietly with the hope of seeing someone else and are soon rewarded as Ai Weiwei joins Ellwood in conversation. There is a humble quality about this artist who has garnered much media controversy in and out of China over the last twenty years. Dressed modestly in blue t-shirt and jeans Ai is now in his late 50s, his beard flecked with grey. He speaks appreciatively of the opportunity to exhibit with the likes of Warhol, whose influence he equates to ‘perfume in the atmosphere;’ all pervasive and powerful.
In the foyer of the Gallery stands the recently commissioned Forever Bicycles (2015). A massive installation made from stainless steel bicycle frames; part of Ai’s ongoing bicycle series that began in 2003. The name taken from the Forever brand of popular Chinese bicycles originating in the 1940s, this assemblage of almost 1500 bicycle frames creates a spectacular effect and references notions of the individual and the mass. In the uncensored light of the foyer canopy the hard surfaces of the form soften to form gentle shadows while its multi-tiers create an imposing arch and gateway to the exhibition.
Opposite Forever Bicycles stands another new installation by Ai Weiwei, the five metre tall Chandelier with Restored Han Dynasty Lamps for the Emperor (2015), part of Ai’s Chandelier series of crystal and light originating in 2002. Inspired by the Han dynasty lamp discovered in an emperor’s tomb and thought to represent eternal life and light this work is created from thousands of interwoven crystal prisms. It stands in stark contrast to the austere form opposite, the partner in a conversation perhaps between East and West, rich and poor, privilege and oppression, excess and deprivation. These works form the perfect metaphor for the exhibition to come.
Conceived and developed by a large team of NGV staff including Andrew Clark, Deputy Director, NGV and Max Delany, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, NGV in partnership with the Andy Warhol Museum, the exhibition has been a massive undertaking, involving years of planning and preparation and draws on major collections both nationally and internationally. It is a show that requires stamina but is well worth the effort.
The exhibition weaves its way around much of the ground floor of the NGV: Interrupted briefly by a diversion to the Gallery Shop and its merchandise, part of the narrative that Warhol would have applauded, as art becomes merchandise and merchandise art, it then continues on, to the other side of the foyer. The focus in this section is largely on Warhol and Ai’s film, media and publication interests, interrupted briefly again by a pop-up merchandise shop, before eventually snaking its way to Studio Cat. Billed as Andy Warhol-Ai Weiwei for kids and situated in the NGV Children’s Gallery, this free section of the exhibition plays with Warhol and Ai’s obsession with cats. Although the spaces are small there are a variety of fun, interactive as well as informative multimedia and installation activities. Ai’s newly commissioned wallpaper and Warhol’s cat designs act as a backdrop.
A leading artist in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s Warhol used many forms of artist expression from performance, filmmaking, installation and writing, blurring the lines between art and what at the time was mainstream aesthetics. His focus on mass-produced commercial goods in such iconic paintings such as Campbell soup cans, (1962), caused a major stir as did his coca-cola bottles, vacuum cleaners and hamburgers. Later courting celebrity portraits, often in garish colours Warhol garnered many commissions while also managing to offend or provoke artistic sensibilities.
Regarded as a dissident artist in China, Ai is acutely aware of the media resonance of his art. Using social media as part of his art practice he reflects the corruption and disregard for human rights in his country: Jailed, threatened and his passport removed, Ai has been placed under surveillance but remains defiant. Best known for his conceptual and Dadaist works, his ‘ready mades,’ objects taken from the world and altered or modified have a strong satirical element. Ai also works across disciplines such as architecture, film, photography, and publication and, like Warhol, his work is often produced with the support of a team of people.
Media publicity draws attention to the ‘parallels, intersections and points of difference between the two artists ’practices.’ Curated thematically, a dialogue between the two artists becomes evident and is carefully developed through the design, size, floor and wall coverings of each room. Ai’s triptych, silver gelatin photographs, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, (1995), or Neolithic Pottery with Coca-Cola Logo, (2007), that stand in initial contrast to Warhol’s series of screen printed Self-Portraits, (1986) or The Three Marilyns, (1962), soon challenge the viewer to consider what might constitute a work of art and the value of provenance?
Visitor needs have been carefully considered with good flow around or between art pieces, clear labeling and additional information for kids. Concise information panels inform the viewer of the orientation of the room and points of connection or difference between the artists.
Ready mades such as Tonne of Tea, (2005) for example, by Ai comprising of tea and wood bases reference Chinese life, trade and customs while echoing the aesthetics of Warhol’s Brillo Soap Pads Box. Warhol’s politically based Mao paintings (1972) and wallpaper, (1974), produced after President Nixon visited China reflect notions of political propaganda, popular culture and cult of the personality, feed into Ai’s Mao (facing forward) (1986) oil paintings which speak of the politically sanctioned imagery of that era.
The symbol of the flower in both artists work is ubiquitous. Warhol’s mass produced flower screen prints of the 1960s and 1970s suggest both the commercial appeal and counterculture of the time. Blossom, (2015), another new commission by Ai, a flower bed composed of thousands of delicate white flowers made from fine porcelain that speak of hope and remembrance while Flowers, (2013-15), is a form of protest. Composed of a bicycle, flowers and digital print on paper, it reflects the daily act of placing fresh flowers in the basket of a bicycle outside his studio for the benefit of surveillance cameras around his house after his passport was removed.
This finely produced show has not been without its own controversy however as Ai Weiwei was refused a bulk order of lego by the Danish toy company for his project The Lego Room, (2015). Commissioned by the NGV, this work depicts portraits of 20 Australian advocates for human rights such as Georffrey Robertson QC, Michael Kirby AC, CMG and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, ultimately garnering wide public sympathy and support: An appropriate coda to artists who have courted controversy.
In a global age in which the ‘cult of the celebrity,’ is all pervasive and concerns over increased surveillance and human rights issues are prevalent the role and power of art as a mirror to reflect our values and affect change is powerful. In this light an exhibition such as this serves multiple purposes; as a celebration of two great artists but also as an important contribution to our own national conversation.
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei
National Gallery Victoria
180 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne
Open daily 10am-5pm
January 2016, open 10am-8pm
Friday Nights at NGV open 6-10pm
Tickets on sale from ngv.vic.gov.au
11 December 2015-24 April 2016
