Ai Weiwei has today had a piece of his art work go on display in London for the first time since his sunflower seeds were displayed at the Tate.
In a stark contrast to Weiwei’s sunflower seed piece which filled the whole of the Turbine Hall his new work is tiny by comparison measuring in at just 40cm by 40cm by 40cm.
The art work, which features a cactus and a lobster, has gone on display today at London’s Pippy Houldsworth gallery in what is being described as a ‘micro space’. Unfortunately Weiwei himself couldn’t be in London to present the work as he is banned by Chinese authorities from leaving his native country however for fans of his work this is an exciting chance to check his handy work out in real life.
Controversial artist and activist Weiwei recently set up a series of webcams in his China based studio so that his family and fans to could an eye on him however the authorities were quick to force him to remove them.
The cameras had originally been set up to mark the one year anniversary that Weiwei disappeared for 81 days. It turned out that he had been held at Beijing airport by officials and questioned over an alleged tax evasion. At the same time as Weiwei was being questioned a number of other activists seemed to ‘disappear’ leading to speculation that he was being questioned over his stands against the Chinese government.
The Box will be on display until 26th May.
