Roots and Branches

For his exhibition at Lisson New York, Ai Weiwei in reference to the ancient Asian tradition populates the gallery with felled, cast-iron tree trunks and a series of iron root sculptures.

Inspired by nature

Fast, a company founded in 1995 in Valle Sabbia by the Levrangi family, is specialised in outdoor furniture, representing the best of made-in-Italy quality.

Sponsored content

For his first solo exhibition with Lisson New York, Ai Weiwei populates the gallery with felled, cast-iron tree trunks, nearly sixteen feet in length, and a series of iron root sculptures set against the backdrop of a new wallpaper installation.

Ai Weiwei. 2016: Roots and Branches, installation view at Lisson Gallery, New York, 2016

These monumental wooden or iron multipartite sculptures are all composites of different parts of different trees gathered by the artist from various parts of China in reference to the ancient Asian tradition of collecting dry fragments of trees for contemplation of their complex forms.

Fragments also play an important part in Ai Weiwei’s work as they force attention on foundational elements and the most basic units that combine to create a whole. Here, in line with the artist’s worldview, the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts but rather each individual part is equal and of unique importance. This focus on equality is evidenced in recent projects by the artist that take as their starting point the refugee crisis and challenges to freedom of speech.