Ai Weiwei's “Circle of Animals” loaned to several museums

PanARMENIAN.Net - In its ongoing effort to further artistic connection between the public and artist, Heather James Fine Art announced their latest collaboration and loan to several museums throughout the western United States to exhibit Artist Ai Weiwei’s popular Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads, Gold and Bronze series, Art Daily reports.

The Zodiac Heads: Gold series, on loan from Heather James Fine Art, is currently on view at the Tucson Museum of Art through June 26, 2016. Prior to this engagement, Heather James Fine Art loaned the Zodiac Heads: Gold series to the Portland Art Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum for exhibitions in 2015. The Zodiac Heads: Gold will travel to the Reno Art Museum after its tenure in Tucson.

The Zodiac Heads: Bronze series is currently on view at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento through May 1, 2016, sponsored by Heather James Fine Art. These museum partnerships are part of the gallery’s longstanding effort to serve the public good by making works of art available for temporary display and exhibition in other venues.

“The traveling Ai Weiwei tour is the biggest exhibition we’ve sponsored and coordinated so far,” says James Carona, co-owner, Heather James Fine Art. “The Zodiac Heads series is tremendously popular, so we’re thrilled to be able to bring it to a wider audience in the United States.”

Ai Weiwei created two series of sculptures representing the animal symbols from the traditional Chinese zodiac: a monumental bronze edition for outdoor display and a smaller-scaled gold edition (made of bronze) for indoor display. The artist drew inspiration for the twelve animals originally located at Yuanming Yuan (Old Summer Palace), an imperial retreat of palaces and European-style gardens built outside of Beijing in the 18th and 19th centuries by Emperor Qianlong. Designed and engineered by two European Jesuits, Giuseppe Castiglione and Michel Benoist, the animals originally functioned as an ornate fountain clock that would spout water at two-hour intervals.

Once accessible only to the elite of 18th-century Chinese society, the garden was destroyed and looted by Anglo-French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War, displacing the original zodiac heads. While seven of the heads are known to exist, (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Horse, Monkey, and Pig), five have been repatriated to China and the ownership of two remains contested. Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads engages issues of looting, repatriation, and cultural heritage while expanding upon ongoing themes in Ai’s work concerning the “fake” and “copy” in relation to the original.

The installation on view at the Tucson Art Museum is one of eight smaller gold-gilded editions with four artist’s proofs. This set of works measures between 20 and 30 inches in height, depending on the animal. The set on view at the Crocker Art Museum was produced as an edition in bronze. This set of works measures almost 10 feet high. The Zodiac Heads have been exhibited at 35 international venues (and counting) around the world, including the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia; Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin; The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego; Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; Musee d’art Contemporain de Montreal, Canada; and The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Russia.

Ai Weiwei (born 1957, Beijing, China) is a renowned contemporary artist, architectural designer, and social activist who employs a wide range of media. He has been openly critical of the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and record of human rights violations, investigated government corruption and cover-ups, and was held for 81 days at an undisclosed location in 2011. Following his four years of house arrest, Chinese authorities recently returned his passport to Ai Weiwei, whereupon he left China for Germany, where he is currently staying in anticipation of the opening of a new exhibition.