Ai Wei Wei and his New York Photos

Ai Wei Wei is a contemporary artist, architect and, it appears, critic in China. He worked with the firm Herzog & de Meuron to design the Olympic Stadium known as the Bird’s Nest only to later to protest his government’s handling of the Olympics by boycotting it. Recently he was in the news again as he and others stepped up a volunteer campaign to pester officials with phone calls and seek a full reckoning about the schools which easily collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake, killing hundreds of students. According to the Reuters article of March 21, Ai and volunteers already have the names of some 2,000 children killed, and Ai maintains, "We want to have all their names, because only then can we remind everyone that these were people, not numbers.“ (See his blog at blog.sina.com.cn/aiweiwei).

Why is this man so outspoken in a society in which ducking responsibility seems to be ingrained? At the Caochangdi Three Shadows photography center (founded by husband-wife team Rong Rong and Inri and designed by Ai Weiwei), a display of more than 200 photos culled from more than 10,000 literally provide a snapshot of Ai Weiwei’s life as a young man in New York City during the years 1983-1993. While perhaps a bit more background is needed to accompany the photos, indicating Ai’s failing of a key Parson’s School course which led to his dropping out of school to take on various jobs to survive, including those of a street portrait artist, an extra at the NY Metropolitan Theater, a freelance photographer, and even a producer of the soap opera “Beijingers Abroad,” the photos still give glimpses of innumerable influences on this complex personality. We grin at the goofiness and friendship of the creative pool in which he and other Chinese artists like filmmaker Chen Kaige and composer Tan Dan created by being together; we cringe at the police brutality captured in street protests; we smile at Al Sharpton and Bill Clinton strutting their political stuff and at the drag queens strutting their stuff; and we sigh at so many other scenes and say, “My, isn’t that just like I remember life?” How many lifetimes and experiences he squeezed into those years!

The Three Shadows Photography Art Centre is located in Caochangdi, more or less in the NE corner of the intersection of the 5th Ring Road and the Airport Expressway. It not only shows photography exhibits of contemporary artists, but it also has an unparalleled library of materials on contemporary photography and visual art. It also offers lectures, seminars and workshops on photography. With Spring upon us, its cute café will also be appealing. Please view its website at www.threeshadows.cn or call (86 10) 6432 2663 for more information on exhibits, hours, and directions. I heartily recommend a visit!

Note: While there, I also picked up a "Redbox Art Guide/Beijing" fold-out pocket guide to illustrate the various art districts in Beijing. (If you've ever seen a Luxe pocket guide, this is similar, but totally art-based.) See their website at www.RedBoxStudio.cn for more information on this and other city guides for Hong Kong and Shanghai.