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The Chinese artist who collaborated on the Bird's Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics is to be the next to create a work for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
Ai Weiwei will follow artists including Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread and Olafur Eliasson in designing what has become one of the most popular contemporary art attractions in Britain.
Weiwei made his name by assisting architects Herzog and de Meuron in creating the stadium for the 2008 Games — one of the most memorable designs in recent history.
Announcing his appointment today, Tate Modern director
Vicente Todoli said: “Frequently conceived on a grand scale, Ai Weiwei's compelling installations are among the most socially engaged works of art being made today, so it will be thrilling to see how he responds to the vast, public environment of the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern this October.”
Weiwei was born in Beijing in 1957 and returned there to work after spending the Eighties in America.
He has played an important role in developing contemporary Chinese art. His previous work includes a photo-triptych recording how he dropped an ancient Han dynasty ceramic vase on the floor.
In Germany, he invited 1,001 Chinese citizens to “colonise” the town of Kassel, and to commemorate the 2008 Sichuan earthquake he created a wall in Munich made up of thousands of children's backpacks.
No details are given at this stage of what Weiwei plans to do in the hall. His work will be unveiled on 12 October and remain on view until 25 April next year.
More than 22 million people have visited the Unilever Series commissions since French artist Louise Bourgeois presented her spiders in 2000 when Tate Modern opened.
Hits include Olafur Eliasson's giant sun, Carsten Holler's slides and Doris Salcedo's crack in the floor.
Reader views (1)
We can all see where he got the idea of the birds nest,did his barber get any comission.?
- Davey_Bouy, Chertsey Surrey, 06/03/2010 18:04
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