I have been collecting photography for a very long time now and I like to collect contemporary artists from around the world. I usually pick up photographers’ work when I visit their country. One of the artists that I have collected from is Ai Weiwei, I have one of his iconic images that I bought years ago from his exhibit here in NY. He also shot this same image in front of the Eiffel Tower and The Tiananmen Square, these images were a global political statement.
Ai Weiwei
When I opened The Arts section of the Times today I saw this news article about his detainment . It is sad when such a great artist is suppressed politically for speaking his mind. There is something to be learned from suppression of opinions and beliefs, we are lucky to live in a country that allows freedom of expression and speech. There are too few places in this world that do not allow these freedoms.
If you feel the same way please consider signing the petition to free Ai Weiwei here http://twitition.com/ao9m7
Dear Vicente:
Are you familiar with New York photographer
James Bleecker. He specializes in architecture,
interiors and shots of New York including
The High Line. He has some spectacular
shots of The Hudson Valley, as well,
See- http://www.jamesbleecker.com
His work is fine art photography in which he applies
pigments to Aquarelle paper in
limited editions of 15 prints or less.
James Bleecker Photography
(212)-473-7533
40 Fifth Ave., Unit 5D
New York, NY 10011
His work is well worth a look-see.
Sincerely, Helen.
I side with the freedom of expression. No artistic statement is as dangerous or offensive as its suppression. The Chinese government has finally accepted free market forces in their controlled economy. I hope it will soon accept the freedoms of expression and assembly in their culture and be truly transformed. They need courageous folks like this leading the way. – Gary
While I find it offensive and disrespectful he should certainly not be incarcerated for his beliefs…that is what makes this country different and great.
I was very disappointed to see this on your blog.
I agree with Colleen, disappointed to see this on your blog as well. This blog is a design blog, not a political statement blog which was why I was offended. But we are talking about freedom of the press…..
This is not a political statement; this is about a very talented creative person who is being silenced because he is not complying with his government and speaking out. This is about having the freedom of expression and the freedom to question authority if you so choose to.
As you can see in my post I talk about what a great country we live in and have such rights as the freedom of speech. Anytime people express themselves with a strong point of view somebody else is going to disagree with it. If you are offended by the image, art is in the eye of the beholder and at times should be controversial and evoke lively conversations.
I AGREE WITH BOTH GARY AND VICENTE….
THE SPIRIT AND SOUL CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY FROM A PERSON, EVEN IF THEIR FREEDOM AND LIFE ARE….
XXOO
MELISSA
Your statement is not a partisan one. It’s about freedom vs. tyranny. There are many people on the left, right and center here and abroad who would agree with you. I think we should be concerned citizens of the world first and design professionals second because there are many places in this world where one still does not have the right to be either. – Gary
IS THIS NOT VICENTE WOLF’S BLOG……?
I THINK HE CAN SAY WHAT EVER HE WISHES ON THIS BLOG..
THERE ARE MANY WHOM ARE NOT DESIGNERS THAT READ HIS BLOG EVERYDAY AND REALLY LIKE HIM AS A HUMAN BEING NOT JUST A DESIGNER!!!!!
XXOO
MELISSA
A designer expressing beliefs outside design?! God forbid. Jesus, people. Vicente, I applaud you for being human. A blog is an outward expression of one’s inner monologue. If we allow ourselves to self-censor because it’s outside the purview of our traditional oeuvre then we truly lose what makes us most human–our opinions, which are sometimes contradictory, are always, first and foremost, our own…
“First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist…”
I think we all know the rest.
Hey there,
If you believe there is freedom in the US, you need to read some Noam Chomsky or watch Manufacturing Consent. If you want to find out how free you are try exercising some of your so called “freedoms”. LOL
I like the visual. I also like what it says. It expresses things that I do share.
I also like the concept and, as french, I am not shocked by the idea that Weiwei took a similar shot in front of the Eiffel tower.
Btw, Diane, I don’t think that Your country is any “different and great”. “Freedom of press” You invoke is a joke, and a killing one. What I get from weiwei at this one is that he dares to make a big finger to all forms of oppression, be it colonial, imperialist or totalitarian.
Beyond this, Vicente, You made Yourself a lucky man buying this print.
The series of three would embellish my living-room !
For the rest, I never heard of James Bleecker.
Good to see yet another concerned artist standing up for Ai Weiwei! (I’ve tweeted this post, by the way.)
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@Colleen Martn & @diane
Disappointed and offended at you both.
I second Eamon. I’ll add that it’s people like “diane” and “Colleen Martin” who act as modern thought police. These people try to make it impossible for one to have any dissenting views about the US government or any government at that. Stanley Milgram did a study about people like “diane” and “Colleen Martin” you both should check it out.
hey i’m just a random person who found this post by google image searching ai weiwei, but i thought it important to point out that it is possible, even likely, that Colleen Martn may have been saying she is disappointed by the bad news that Weiwei has been imprisoned, and not by that fact’s inclusion on this blog. diane’s somewhat crazy idea that you shouldn’t discuss such things on design blogs is only sneakily attributed to Colleen Martn by diane — a self-serving interpretation which is then bizarrely endorsed by Eamon & Michael’s collective condemnation. poor Colleen Martn; i feel like she is the true victim here. As someone with apparently superior reading comprehension skills than befit a design blog, i would also like to point out that diane seems to think that Mr. Weiwei has been detained by American authorities for flipping the bird to the white house. this is not actually the case. hilariously, diane expresses a little discomfort at the idea that a person who would give the one-fingered salute to our president’s home would be thrown in prison, but she apparently also thinks that we should all just keep quiet about that sort of ugliness in polite company, or on design blogs. thanks for the laughs, idiot.
ps big shout out to helen louisy who takes the opportunity to capitalize on one artist’s unfortunate authoritarian government disappearance in order to promote a competing (and probably lousy) artist in whose commercial success she obviously has a vested interest.
While I would not make this gesture at the White House, which represents freedom, there are several politicians who I think are deserving of this gesture. That being said, the Chinese government is evil and oppressive and treats its people like animals, not citizens and political prisoners should never be forgotten. The UN should invest their time in trying to get people like this man released instead of spending ridculous amounts of money on party food or trying to tell us the countries like Syria have something to contribute on human rights issues.
When artists leave the safety of aesthetics, ideas can be powerful weapons….