Adamson Editions is pleased to announce first collaboration with renowned artist Ai Weiwei
The two prints represent the two of the sides of a monumental jet black Murano glass chandelier. Adamson Editions developed new printing techniques to utilize a black pigmented ink to obtain what we believe is the blackest black that the studio have ever produced.
The finished print has a rich three dimensional feel at a scale that allows the minutest details to be rendered perfectly.
The works are titled Obsidian I and II to reflect both the physical and spiritual affinity of the prints to the blackest natural substance in the world “obsidian lava”.
The Mayans fashioned flat sheets of Obsidian into scrying mirrors to see into the underworld, Obsidian forms a shield against negativity, providing a grounding cord from the base to the center of the earth. Obsidian goes back to our past lives to heal festering emotions or trauma carried forward into the present, bringing depth and clarity to emotions.
These two new works are a stunning memento mori, A tour de force by one of the world’s greatest living artists.
Obsidian I, 2021, archival pigment print, 223x 152.5cms, edition of 30
Obsidian II, 2021, archival pigment print, 223x 152.5cms, edition of 30
Ai Weiwei
A global citizen, artist and thinker, Ai Weiwei moves between modes of production and investigation, subject to the direction and outcome of his research, whether into the Chinese earthquake of 2008 (for works such as Straight, 2008-12 and Remembering, 2009) or the worldwide plight of refugees and forced migrants (for Law of the Journey and his feature-length documentary, Human Flow, both 2017). From early iconoclastic positions in regards to authority and history, which included Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn and a series of middle-finger salutes to sites of power, Study of Perspective (both 1995), Ai’s production expanded to encompass architecture, public art and performance. Beyond concerns of form or protest, Ai now measures our existence in relation to economic, political, natural and social forces, uniting craftsmanship with conceptual creativity. Universal symbols of humanity and community, such as bicycles, flowers and trees, as well as the perennial problems of borders and conflicts are given renewed potency though installations, sculptures, films and photographs, while Ai continues to speak out publicly on issues he believes important. He is one of the leading cultural figures of his generation and serves as an example for free expression both in China and internationally.
Ai Weiwei was born in 1957 in Beijing and now lives and works in Portugal. He attended Beijing Film Academy and later, on moving to New York (1983–1993), continued his studies at the Parsons School of Design. Major solo exhibitions include Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal (2021); Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal (2021); Imperial War Museum, London, UK (2020); K20/K21, Düsseldorf, Germany (2019); OCA, São Paulo, Brazil (2018); Corpartes, Santiago, Chile (2018); Mucem, Marseille, France (2018); PROA, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2017); Sakip Sabanci, Museum, Istanbul, Turkey (2017); Public Art Fund, New York, NY, USA (2017); Israel Museum, Jerusalem (2017); Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy (2016); 21er Haus, Vienna, Austria (2016); Helsinki Art Museum, Finland (2016); Royal Academy, London, UK (2015); Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany (2014); Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN, USA (2013); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., USA (2012); Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (2011); Tate Modern, London, UK (2010) and Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2009). Architectural collaborations include the 2012 Serpentine Pavilion and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium, with Herzog and de Meuron. Among numerous awards and honours, he won the lifetime achievement award from the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards in 2008 and was made Honorary Academician at the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 2011. His human rights work has been recognised through the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent in 2012 and Amnesty International’s