Ai Weiwei Uses LEGO To Create Warhol-Style Self-Portrait, Showcased In Singapore
By Mikelle Leow, 23 Jan 2024
© Ai Weiwei. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin, featured with permission
lego bricks, 114 x 114 cm
A striking new self-portrait by Ai Weiwei, titled Ai in Red (2023), gripped observers last weekend near the entrance at ART SG in Singapore, the first internationally influential art fair of the year. Pieced together using the unconventional medium of vibrant LEGO Bricks, the sculpture was a nod to Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the readymade, while also channeling Andy Warhol’s iconic silkscreen portraits.
This LEGO man, depicted from the shoulders up, directly engaged with the viewer through his gaze. The eye-popping use of color is reminiscent of Warhol’s style, with a flattened red background, green attire, and orange-tinted features, while gray shadows introduced dimensionality.
The pixelated artwork was presented by Berlin-based gallery neugerriemschneider, alongside a diverse array of pieces by artists such as Thomas Bayrle, Billy Childish, and Olafur Eliasson.
© Ai Weiwei. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin, featured with permission
lego bricks, 114 x 114 cm
The Chinese artist and activist’s choice of toy bricks is particularly poignant, considering a memorable ordeal in 2015. Ai was denied a large order of LEGO bricks for a political artwork intended for display alongside Warhol pieces at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
The rejection, which Ai publicized on Instagram, drew a wave of public support and offers of donations in plastic bricks, eventually compelling the toy company to revise its policies regarding bulk orders.
Ai has been digging into the toybox now and then to create his masterpieces ever since. Perhaps most notable of them all is Water Lilies #1, a nearly 50-foot-long recreation of Claude Monet’s monumental triptych Water Lilies, where he replaced the painter’s brushstrokes with about 650,000 studs of plastic bricks in 22 vivid hues. He also reimagined Giorgione’s 16th-century Sleeping Venus and Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 Washington Crossing the Delaware; the latter two incorporated 350,000 LEGO pieces in total.
Ai has called LEGO his “second language,” expressing that he wants his work to be understood by children. He uses this kiddish, universal lexicon to explain serious, often political themes. At the same time, LEGO bricks, with their pixel-like appearance, are Ai’s way of conveying the contemporary digital landscape.
His latest portrait, itself a study in digital-age imagery and traditional print techniques, unsurprisingly drew crowds and sparked photo opportunities.
Image courtesy of ART SG
ART SG 2024, held at Marina Bay Sands in the sunny city-state, marked the fair’s second edition following its successful debut in 2023. Organized by The Art Assembly and presented by UBS, the fair featured 114 galleries from 33 countries, showcasing a mix of established masters and emerging talents.
[via ART SG; image © Ai Weiwei, courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin, featured with permission]