Ai Weiwei: Don Quixote

Curator: Álvaro Rodríguez Fominaya

Ai Weiwei: Don Quixote is an extensive exhibition featuring pieces produced over the past 20 years of the career of this essential creator in the international art scene, known for his ability to merge art and political activism. It is also the first exhibition to extensively showcase his series of paintings made with LEGO bricks. In reference to these, the artist states: “LEGO, like ancient mosaics, textile and carpet designs, or wooden movable-type printing of the Song Dynasty (ca. 1000 AD), embodies a sense of timelessness.” 

The project will also feature a selection of installations and monumental works. Among them, if there is one seminal piece that will be on display, it is La Commedia Umana (2017-2021), a chandelier made with 2,000 pieces of black Murano glass and standing over eight meters tall, which speaks to us about the cycle of life and death. Its production lasted four years. The exhibition traverses Ai Weiwei"s central themes, intertwining autobiographical aspects with issues such as the refugee crisis, international politics, or the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of human development. 

 Ai Weiwei leads a diverse and prolific practice that encompasses sculptural installation, filmmaking, photography, ceramics, painting, writing and social media. A conceptual artist who fuses traditional craftsmanship and his Chinese heritage, Ai Weiwei moves freely between a variety of formal languages to reflect on the contemporary geopolitical and sociopolitical condition. Ai Weiwei’s work and life regularly interact and inform one another, often extending to his activism and advocacy for international human rights. 

He has exhibited extensively at institutions and biennials worldwide, including at Design Museum, London (2023); Albertina Modern, Vienna (2022); Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto (2021); Brooklyn Museum, New York (2014); Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London (2010; documenta 12, Kassel (2007); among others.