Skip to main content

Art

Lumumba Edwards
Future IDs at Alcatraz

Future IDs at Alcatraz was a yearlong exhibition on Alcatraz Island featuring ID-inspired artworks created by and with individuals with conviction histories as they conceive and develop a vision for a future self. Led by artist Gregory Sale, this project was presented by in partnership with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy as a part of the Art in the Parks program.

Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, Refraction exhibit
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Refraction, New Industries Building

Using the imagery of flight to evoke the tension between freedom and confinement, this monumental installation—weighing more than five tons—is modeled after a bird’s wing.

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Yours Truly, Dining Hall
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Yours Truly, Dining Hall

Yours Truly serves as a springboard for visitors to engage in a global conversation about the responsibilities that we all bear as members of the international community. 

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Blossom, Hospital
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Blossom, Hospital

With intricately detailed encrustations of ceramic flowers, Ai transforms the utilitarian fixtures (sinks, toilets, and tubs) in several hospital ward cells and medical offices into fantastical, fragile porcelain bouquets.

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Stay Tuned, A Block
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Stay Tuned, A Block

Stay Tuned invites visitors into 12 individual cells in A Block, where they can sit and listen to spoken words, poetry, and music by people who have been imprisoned for the creative expression of their beliefs—as well as works created under conditions of incarceration.

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Refraction, New Industries Building (with tunnel access)
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Refraction, New Industries Building (with tunnel access)

Using the imagery of flight to evoke the tension between freedom and confinement, this monumental installation—weighing more than five tons—is modeled after a bird’s wing. 

Ai Weiwei, Trace 2014 (New Industries Building, Alcatraz)
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: Trace, New Industries Building

In this installation, the viewer is confronted with a field of 176 colorful portraits laid out across an expanse of the floor. Each portrait—intricately constructed from LEGO® bricks—represents an individual who has been imprisoned or exiled because of his or her beliefs, actions, or affiliations. 

 

Ai Weiwei Art Installation at Alcatraz
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in 3D: With Wind, New Industries Building

This large-scale installation, located in the building once used for prison labor, is based on the traditional Chinese "dragon kite" and features multiple kites strung together to create a single, large multipart kite. 

Ai Weiwei Art Installation at Alcatraz
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in a Virtual 3D Space

Visitors can now revisit—or view for the first time—this once-in-a-lifetime installation of art within the confines of Alcatraz.

Colorful dragon suspended in an old Alcatraz prison building
Art in the Parks Archive

Take a look at how creative expression has been an integral part of the Golden Gate National Parks since 2006.