Ai Weiwei Editions
Shop a series of unique works by Ai Weiwei, from exhibition catalogues with individually painted dust jackets, to handmade porcelain flowers.
A special opportunity to purchase one of a series of unique works by Chinese conceptual artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. These remarkable pieces have been produced exclusively for the Royal Academy to accompany his major exhibition now open in our main galleries.
Artist edition catalogues
The dust jackets for the artist edition of the catalogue of Ai Weiwei’s 2015 exhibition at the Royal Academy have been individually painted by the artist in one of ten colours: black, white, yellow, red, green, blue, purple, turquoise, lilac and grey. In each, a bold, calligraphic stroke sweeps across the paper to produce a painting of great vibrancy and spontaneity in celebration of the tactile qualities of the medium. Using a fully loaded brush, Ai has allowed the paint to run and dribble down the paper under its own weight, producing works with an affinity to his Coloured Vases, which he creates by dipping antique Chinese ceramics into the same type of brightly coloured paint and allowing it to flow down each vessel.
£7,000
Porcelain Chrysanthemums
Flowers have long been an integral part of Ai Weiwei’s work. He placed a fresh bouquet in the basket of a bicycle outside his studio each morning during the period in which he was unable to travel, his passport having been withheld by the Chinese government; and his #aiflowers Instagram project invited people everywhere to make flowers to remember the children lost in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Blossom, the title of his recent installation at the hospital on the infamous prison island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, filled sinks, lavatories and bathtubs once used by prisoners with porcelain flowers, in a symbolic offer of comfort to the incarcerated that also made ironic reference to China’s 1956 Hundred Flowers Campaign.
Universal symbols of both freedom and remembrance, these beautiful porcelain chrysanthemums, manufactured especially for the Royal Academy, reflect these attributes in the purity of their materials and the superb levels of craftsmanship involved in their manufacture. Each chrysanthemum is unique and made in one of four colours: white, pink, pale blue and mauve.
£14,000
How to buy
Please call 0207 300 8047, or email aiweiweisales@royalacademy.org.uk.
Ai Weiwei Editions are sold by the RA Shop. All proceeds from the sale will go towards ensuring that the non-profit making areas of the Academy, including our education programme, library and the RA Schools, continue to flourish.