Famed Chinese visual artist Ai Weiwei will present a series of his new works at an exhibition in London’s Design Museum in April. Among displayed works will be his take on Claude Monet’s iconic oil painting series “Water Lillies” made with LEGO bricks.
Titled “Water Lilies #1,” the 50-foot-wide work consists of 650,000 individual LEGO bricks in 22 colors. It captures Monet’s impressionist style but in an unexpected medium, resulting in an intriguing piece of art.
“In ‘Water Lilies #1’ I integrate Monet’s Impressionist painting, reminiscent of Zenism in the East, and concrete experiences of my father and me into a digitized and pixelated language,” Ai said in a statement. “Toy bricks as the material, with their qualities of solidity and potential for deconstruction, reflect the attributes of language in our rapidly developing era where human consciousness is constantly dividing.”
Ai Weiwei has been prominently using LEGO bricks in his works since mid-2000s. This includes a series of LEGO posters depicting Eastern zodiac animals as well as an art installation Untitled (Lego Incident) consisting of LEGO bricks that were donated to him from fans around the world.
The “Ai Weiwei: Making Sense” exhibition will open on April 7 and will be on display until July 30.
