Ai Weiwei; influential, controversial Chinese Artist whose blog was shutdown by the Chinese Government

This is a photograph of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in front of Tiananmen Square, although I don't exactly know when the photograph was taken. Ai Weiwei's blog was shut down days before the Tiananmen Square anniversary. This was due to him drawing attention to the lives lost in the Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008. 9,000 students and teachers were killed when a school collapsed during the earthquake due to poor construction ("China Earthquake: 200,000 flee from growing Sichuan Lake". )

As an artist, Ai Weiwei is highly critical of Chinese government policies and acts to promote individual freedom of thought in China. From the article "Our Duty is the Remember Sichuan" on The Guardian website:

"I call on people to be "obsessed ­citizens", forever questioning and ­asking for accountability. That's the only chance we have today of a healthy and happy life." - Ai Weiwei

Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/25/china-earthquake-cover-up

He is a fascinating figure who is definitely worth checking out. I really wish I could read Chinese and understand his blog, but I guess learning Chinese will have to be a new goal of mine.

Phoebe Lo

http://www.phoebelo.com/Phoebe/Home.html

check her out...

why?

Her sculptures successfully defy the solid nature of her materials.
She has a thoughtful portfolio of photographs; the fine art works show a sensitivity to the surface and subject of her photographs and the commercial works show that she does actual work in the industry.

Gallery Hopping: 401 Richmond and 80 Spadina

To celebrate the start of summer, I decided to do some art gazing today downtown. Works of note:

Yam Lau's "Hutong 3" project at Leo Kamen Gallery (80 Spadina), as well as a photograph of one of his projects at the YYZ Gallery at 401 Richmond.

His work appears to be super-visual as "Hutongs 3" was a digitally composed video with no sound to accompany it. I enjoyed his exploration of space - i suppose digital space as a representation of space and culture? Also, his work with the Hutong was really interesting because it preserves an aspect of traditional Chinese culture through a new media artwork.
http://www.leokamengallery.com/artists/lauYam/lauYam.html



Marianne Fowler's paintings at Moore Gallery (80 Spadina)

A series of really lovely paintings that are representational, yet ambiguous enough for me to relate them to my personal experiences with the city and motion. These paintings are oils on canvas, built up to a great level of texture and thickness. The image bank procedure comes to mind - the paintings consists of a neutral ground with geometric shapes as the figure. These shapes are painted in varied forms and sizes with horizontal darker stripes across each one. They remind me of highway soundboards, or a cityscape due to the layering of the forms. These paintings are meditative with the neutral colours and repeated forms and shapes. However there is a sense of dynamism coming from the movement of horizontal lines as well as the contrast of values within the paintings. I really enjoyed seeing this show.
http://www.mooregallery.com/artists/Marianne_Fowler/index.php




Thats all I'm going to write about for now. There was another photograph at YYZ, by artists Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge, but i will write about that tomorrow.
http://www.marissaneave.com/timewarp/ --> YYZ auction site.

Cheers for now!