The Death of Marat (sculpted ai weiwei)

source: designboom

imbued with social and cultural undercurrents, chinese artist he xiangyu has created a fiberglass representation of ai weiwei, curiously positioned in a contorted posture lying face down on ground. the sculpture’s namesake ‘the death of marat’ refers to jacques-louis david’s 18th century portrait of the french revolutionary leader murdered in his bath. reflecting the political persecution of progressive, sometimes rebellious journalists, artists, and thinkers, the life-sized work acts as a materialization of the renowned artist’s tax evasion case of 2012. in the piece, ai weiwei wears the suit worn by people’s representatives during people’s congress meetings. it simultaneously alludes to his entrapped, imprisoned circumstances as his status as an international art idol, revealing the individual’s actions as well as the speculative relationship between fate and the power structure. he xiangyu’s floor-bound figure is currently featured at the rubell family collection, for the exhibition ’28 chinese’ until august 1st, 2014, a group show highlighting contemporary asian art whose opening coincided with this year’s art basel miami beach.
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source: washingtonpost

A sculpture of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei as a corpse has caused panic in a small German town where passersby have mistaken the work for an actual dead body. Chinese artist He Xiangyu’s sculpture of Weiwei is so lifelike that it has resulted in dozens of calls to the police to report a death in Bad Ems, the town where the work is on display.
Visitors look at Chinese artist He Xiangyu’s work “The Death of Marat” depicting Ai Weiwei lying dead exhibited at the Balmoral Artists residence in Bad Ems, western Germany.

The sculpture is called “The Death of Marat” — an art-historical nod to the famous neoclassical painting of French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat, painted by Jacques-Louis David . It depicts Weiwei, who was detained by the Chinese government earlier this year, as lying face down on the gallery floor, deceased. Xiangyu said that he used real human hair, plastic and fiberglass to create the extremely realistic statue. In cribbing the title from David, Xiangyu elevates Weiwei’s status to that of a tragic hero.

Weiwei is famous for his political art and criticism of the Chinese government, as well as his design for the “Bird’s Nest” stadium for the Olympic ceremonies in Beijing three years ago. He was imprisoned for 81 days this spring without any charges filed against him. On Nov. 1, Weiwei announced that Chinese authorities have demanded that he pay $2.4 million in back taxes and fines within 10 days. Weiwei said he would not pay the taxes until police returned books that were confiscated in his arrest.

Xiangyu is one of several artists to pay tribute to Weiwei through their own art. Wang Bo, known to his fans as Pi San , created a cartoon that addressed Weiwei’s arrest, “Crack Sunflower Seeds.” To get around censors, Pi San does not mention Weiwei’s arrest directly, but the sunflower seeds are a reference to an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London that contained 100 million handcrafted sunflower seeds .
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source: folhauol

Um trabalho do artista chinês He Xiangyu em exposição na cidade Bad Ems, na Alemanha, tem causado um rebuliço entre os moradores locais.

Trata-se de uma estátua que mostra seu compatriota, o também artista Ai Weiwei, deitado como se estivesse morto.

Um morador chegou até a prestar queixa na polícia, alegando que o trabalho de Xiangyu é um transtorno para a paz.