Ai Weiwei Installation Will Come To More Than 300 Sites In NYC

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — The massive, citywide public art exhibition from Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei will be set up at more than 300 locations throughout the city, according to new details about the forthcoming public art project.

In March, the renowned artist and commentator Ai Weiwei announced that his next project would be a massive undertaking that would put hundreds of fences throughout the city as a commentary on borders, fences and the current migration crisis. Now, the Public Art Fund, the nonprofit which commissioned the work, is releasing more details about the exhibition and has launched a fundraiser to complete the project. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The Beijing-based artist became one of China's most famous contemporary dissidents when he was jailed for 81 days. His work has been shown throughout the world, and lately he has focused intensely on the current refugee crisis.

His installation in New York will be one of the biggest he's ever undertaken, and will also be one of the most ambitious works the Public Art Fund has ever supported. The Ai Weiwei exhibition, which all told will be scattered in more than 300 sites throughout the city, coincides with the fund's 40th anniversary.

The Public Art Fund launched a crowd-funding campaign this month, seeking donations for the $80,000 price tag for the expansive project. On Tuesday, the Public Art Fund also released a full list of site locations for the sites. There will be large-scale works at the Washington Square Arch in Greenwich Village, in Central Park and in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Smaller-site specific "intervention" will be installed on top of and near several private buildings, including Cooper Union, plus sculptural interventions at bus shelters and 200 two-dimensional works that will be distributed to lamppost banners in all five boroughs, according to the Public Art Fund.

In March, Ai explained to the New York Times that the timely piece is intended as a comment on nativist impulses throughout the U.S. and the world

"We are witnessing a rise in nationalism, an increase in the closure of borders, and an exclusionary attitude towards migrants and refugees, the victims of war and the casualties of globalization," he told the paper.

The exhibition will debut on Oct. 12 and remain scattered throughout the city through February.

Lead image courtesy of the Public Art Fund.