[ad_1]
(Geneva) – famous Chinese Artist and activist Ai Weiwei With Human Rights Watch and Switzerland Art publishers JRP|Version Three limited edition lithographs will be released in September 2024 and will be available at jrp-editions.com.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Human Rights Watch.
The works consist of 99 lithographs in three series, issued in three colors: “Malibu,” “Sunshine,” and “Peach.” They look like a geometric tile made of surveillance cameras, Twitter birds, and handcuffs, symbolizing the fight for free speech. The “Grass Mud Horse” lithographs are all numbered and signed by Ai Weiwei. The Chinese titles are homophones of mythical animals, or vulgar swear words used to insult someone’s mother. The camel-like animal has become a Chinese internet meme, an ironic symbol of resistance to censorship by the Chinese online community.
“Ai Weiwei has inspired people around the world to fight against oppression,” Tirana HassanExecutive Director of Human Rights Watch. “We are very excited to be working with him again and to release his first lithographs in partnership with JRP|Editions.” The lithographs will be released on Tuesday, September 10 at 12pm EST / 6pm CEST for a pre-order price of CHF 1,500 (approximately $1,750 USD) each.
Ai Weiwei’s father was a poet who fell out with the Chinese Communist Party and was sent to a labor camp. Ai Weiwei is a conceptual artist who blends traditional crafts with Chinese traditions, and his work often revolves around themes of human rights and democracy. In 2011, the Chinese government detained him in a secret police detention center without any formal charges and confiscated his passport. He left China in 2015 after his passport was returned.
He worked with Human Rights Watch during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mass Activism ProjectThe project focuses on simple masks, a ubiquitous form of protection during the pandemic but banned in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protesters wore them before the coronavirus pandemic to hide from police tear gas and facial recognition technology.
His artwork was printed on masks, including symbols of free speech, surveillance, persecution, mass obedience, and resistance. The mass activism project raised $1.4 million for Human Rights Watch’s human rights work during the pandemic, and also benefited two colleague organizations, Refugees International and Doctors Without Borders.
The new partnership was created by cultural strategist Deborah Najar and Human Rights Watch Geneva Committee Members who have participated in the organization Art + Activism Initiative to engage artists, curators and galleries in the human rights movement.
About JRP|Version
JRP|Editions (formerly JRP|Ringier, 2004-2018) has been an independent, international publisher of contemporary art since its founding in 1997. The company has collaborated with artists, museums, galleries and private institutions around the world to build a catalogue of more than 550 titles that is currently under active distribution.
In 2019, JRP|Editions opened a new division dedicated to limited editions of fine art. Since then, the company has collaborated with artists of all ages and nationalities to create more than 70 limited edition works, including lithographs, silkscreens, monotypes, sculptures, neon, mirrors, and textiles.
[ad_2]
Source link
