Ai Weiwei LEGO exhibition opens in Lower Manhattan, running April 24 to May 3 at the Free Parking gallery, presented by CART Department, the curator-run project founded by Larry Warsh.
CART Department said the show will bring several of Ai Weiwei's important brick works to New York for the first time in more than a decade, headlined by the artist's BMW LEGO art car, last publicly shown in 2015.
What the Ai Weiwei LEGO exhibition will show
The exhibition will display examples of Ai Weiwei's modular brick techniques, emphasizing stacking, repetition, and modular construction that echo his large-scale installations.
Visitors can see selections from the artist's Zodiac LEGO series and the After LEGO series, the latter of which reconstructs paintings by masters such as Van Gogh, Monet, and Warhol in colorful bricks, CART Department said.
History behind the BMW LEGO art car
The centerpiece of the Ai Weiwei LEGO exhibition is the BMW LEGO art car, which CART Department said has not been shown publicly since it appeared in a Brooklyn Museum presentation in 2015.
At that time, the Brooklyn Museum said the project sparked controversy after LEGO initially declined to accept the commission, stating that the company did not want its products used for political expression. The museum said supporters later donated bricks to help Ai complete the work, and LEGO issued an apology and revised its policy.
Public program, talk, and books for sale
On April 23, the gallery will host a ticketed event titled "In Conversation with Ai Weiwei," featuring the artist in discussion with Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S. China Relations at the Asia Society.
CART Department said the gallery will also offer publications connected to the artist, including Weiwei-isms, Humanity, and the newly published Ai Weiwei Handbook for visitors who want to explore his practice in more depth.
Logistics and ticketing
The Ai Weiwei LEGO exhibition will be on view daily April 24 to May 3 at Free Parking, a gallery in Lower Manhattan. CART Department said opening hours and ticketing details are available on the gallery's website.
For collectors and visitors, the show offers a rare opportunity to see the BMW LEGO art car and a survey of Ai Weiwei's brick sculptures together in New York, CART Department said.
Reported by CART Department and the Brooklyn Museum, this presentation reunites several works that illustrate how Ai Weiwei has used simple plastic bricks to explore historical forms, cultural memory, and the politics of material, the organizers said.
