BARE LIFE —Ai Weiwei at the Kemper Museum
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH VAN HORN
Step into the Kemper Art Museum any time between now and January 5th and you’ll step into Ai Weiwei’s world. After extensive construction and expansion of both the art museum and Washington University’s entire East End, the Kemper has reopened. Two of its newly built galleries are now devoted to Bare Life, an exhibition of over 35 pieces of Ai Weiwei’s work. This is Weiwei’s first major exhibit in the Midwest, and his first in an academic institution. The exhibition covers two sections, Bare Life and Rupture, which work in tandem to reflect on Weiwei’s work in China and the world to create art that calls to humanity. Ai Weiwei’s most recent piece, Bombs, Photos was created specifically to be shown Elizabeth Van Horn in the Kemper. The visual catalogue of Joshua White bombs, built from 1911 to 2019, reaches from the floor to the atrium’s curved ceilWords ing. Each bomb is accompanied by its name, the year it was built, and its country Hannah Dains of origin, eerily recalling the descriptions Edits on art pieces themselves. They range in size from moderate to immense, with the Sophie Tegenu ARMOUR MAGAZINE
28
