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Why did Ai Weiwei make Sunflower Seeds?
1 Answer
Ai Weiwei made Sunflower Seeds to provide a political critique. During his childhood, the Chinese artist frequently saw propaganda posters depicting Mao Zedong, founder of the Chinese Communist Party, as the sun and the citizens of China as sunflowers thriving beneath his rays. His installation featuring 100 million individually handmade sunflower seeds symbolized the poverty that the artist experienced while growing up in Communist China and the reduction of people as individuals / the grouping of individual human beings into a mass that occurred under Communist rule. Shop a collection of Ai Weiwei art on 1stDibs.
1stDibs ExpertFebruary 13, 2024
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Shop for Ai Weiwei Art on 1stDibs
"Coca Cola" Vase
By Ai Weiwei
Located in London, GB
Murano, cast vase in translucent red glass. Includes original packaging and ply presentation box. Edition of 300. Produced in 2023. This work comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Category
2010s Pop Art Sculptures
Materials
Glass
Forest, 1977
By Ai Weiwei
Located in London, GB
Ai Weiwei “Forest (1977)”, 2024
Limited edition offset lithograph print
Edition of 200
Hand-signed by the artist
Published by Damocle Edizioni, Venice, 2024
Each edition comes with...
Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph, Offset
Everything is Art, Everything is Politics By Ai Weiwei
By Ai Weiwei
Located in London, GB
Everything is Art, Everything is Politics
By Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei is a prominent Chinese contemporary artist and activist known for his bold and provocative works that challenge po...
Category
2010s Contemporary More Art
Materials
Wood
Cedar (small)
By Ai Weiwei
Located in London, GB
Cedar (small), 2022
Screenprint on Somerset Velvet Antique 280gsm
hand-signed and numbered
47.5 x 38 cm
52 x 45 cm - framed
Edition of 150
To commemorate Ai Weiwei’s gift of a tree ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Prints
Materials
Screen
Guardian
By Ai Weiwei
Located in London, GB
Guardian, 2024
60 x 60 cm
edition of 1601
hand-signed and numbered by the artist
Understanding the print... see image 4.
01 · Sunflower seeds
Used in ceramic form by Weiwei for his ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Glitter, Screen
$2,352
Cats (Pink)
By Ai Weiwei
Located in London, GB
Screen print on Saunders Waterford 300gsm paper
Hand-signed, dated, and numbered by the artist
45 x 62 cm
Edition 78 of 300
The print was editioned by master printer, Kip Gresham at The Print Studio, Cambridge for Kettle's Yard. It was made using an original drawing ‘cut’ into an acrylic sheet. The image is then reversed when printed.
Description from the publisher:
"Drawing has been fundamental to Ai Weiwei’s artistic practice from an early age. He also has a longstanding love of cats, and they appear frequently in the artist’s social media posts. Many cats used to roam his studio in Beijing. As part of the Kettle’s Yard exhibition, Ai’s ‘Cats wallpaper...
Category
2010s Contemporary Animal Prints
Materials
Screen
