With three exhibitions, Ai Weiwei arrives in Los Angeles arts scene with a bang
Dissident Chinese artist should have found a home long ago in southern California, but until September his work had not been shown there. Now three exhibitions, of works new and old, have opened
Largely due to his activism and outspokenness, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has found a level of international fame and esteem that – with the exception of, perhaps, Banksy – has eluded even his most successful artistic peers.
The 61-year-old not only musters a following in the “serious” art world but is also embraced by a wider fan base who may have never set foot in a gallery.
Ai should have found a natural home in Los Angeles’ blossoming art scene. If there is any city that has more deftly navigated the confluence of serious art and celebrity it is LA. But until this September, Ai never even had a single gallery show in the city.
This autumn, Ai has three major exhibitions on simultaneously in Los Angeles. Once totally absent, today in California Ai is everywhere you look. Ai’s grand arrival can for the most part be traced to one man: Joshua Roth, the former head of the fine arts division of Hollywood’s United Talent Agency (UTA).
For Roth, who had a long friendship with Ai, getting the Chinese artist to show in Los Angeles was something of a career-long ambition. Tragically Roth, 40, died of heart failure in early September before he could witness the opening of the exhibition he helped spearhead.