KQED Arts
Workers will begin assembling @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in buildings that are part of the old military and federal prison in late August. It’s a perfect venue for an artist who has riled government officials in Beijing to the point of his own imprisonment.
After being jailed by the Chinese government in 2011, and his work censored in the country, the dissident artist Ai Weiwei received his passport back this week.
The title of international art star Ai Weiwei’s installation on Alcatraz, @Large, is a contradiction, since the artist himself is anything but. The unusual exhibition on the site of the famous penitentiary opens this weekend and explores themes of freedom and imprisonment.
On September 27, @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, a series of site-specific commissions within the historic former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary will debut. Don’t expect to see the artist; he remains unable to travel, though his ideas will be everywhere.
