New York’s Public Art Fund has announced a new exhibition by Ai Weiwei, to be staged in New York this October, as part of the fund’s 40th anniversary programme. Good Fences Make Good Neighbors will consist of installations of metal-wire security fences at locations across New York, including The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, bus shelters in Brooklyn, the Doris C. Freedman Plaza at Central Park and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. With the international migrant crisis a recurring theme in Ai’s recent work, the New York project comes at a time of intense debate in the US over immigration issues, especially since president Donald Trump’s election and his promise to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.
New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio said of the project; “New York City has long served as a gateway to the United States for millions of immigrants seeking better lives and has long benefited from their contributions and service in every neighborhood across the five boroughs. This expansive public art project that explores themes of freedom and the power of self-expression is a perfect symbol and reminder for all of us, especially in the current political climate.”
Ai Weiwei: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors will be on view 12 October 2017 – 11 February 2018 at sites throughout New York City.
28 March 2017
