Ai Weiwei
Dragon Reflection

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Artist Ai WeiweiChinese, born 1957

CultureChinese

Titles

Dragon Reflection

Date2019–2020

MediumAluminum poles, steel wire, tempered glass mirrors, bamboo, silk, and LED lights

DimensionsOverall: 472 1/2 × 236 1/4 × 198 in. (1200.2 × 600.1 × 502.9 cm)

Credit LineMuseum commission funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund

Object number2019.695

Current Location

The Glassell School of Art

Mcnair Education Court

On view

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Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Object Type

INSTALLATION ART

DescriptionAi Weiwei draws upon Chinese folk customs to reimagine the bench-dragon puppets that are carried aloft during the New Year Lantern Festival. Using traditional materials—bamboo and silk—Ai introduces new elements as well, including the glass discs that reflect the surroundings. Ai comments: “The installation deals with real forms, the reflection of those forms, and of the individuals passing by. . . . The mirrored surfaces of the Dragon Reflection extend this mythic creature infinitely, [pairing] the ideas symbolized by the classic dragon motif in the Chinese context with the political play in the current era of globalization. The Chinese dragon is mystical, vague, and sensuous, in contrast with the logic, rationality, and order of the West. It is undefinable, more intuitive. In this work, both kinds of power coexist.”
ProvenanceThe artist; commissioned by the MFAH, 2019.
Exhibition HistoryAs a new, site-specific commission this work has no exhibition history. A prototype of this Dragon sculpture was exhibited at Le Bon Marché, Paris, in 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

N.A.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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