(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
BY SARAH NG
ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY
Famous Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, dead? Nope, he’s still very much alive. But folks in a little town in Germany freaked out when they saw what appeared to be Weiwei’s corpse lying on a gallery floor.
WKYC describes people’s reactions.
“...some people walking by him panicked and called police but its really a sculpture created by a Chinese artist on display at an art gallery. He used real human hair on the plastic and fiberglass sculpture to give it a realistic look. The artist meant to criticize the corruption and censorship of the Chinese government.”
The artist, He Xiangyu, named the sculpture “The Death of Marat.” It’s named was inspired by a neoclassical painting by Jacques-Louis David. The Washington Post calls the title...
“...an art-historical nod to the famous neoclassical painting of French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat … In cribbing the title from David, Xiangyu elevates Weiwei’s status to that of a tragic hero.”
Xiangyu gave WeiWei high praise because of his outspoken opposition to Chinese government corruption and censorship. WeiWei’s supporters say he has been threatened with imprisonment and fines from the Chinese government because of his criticisms.
A writer for The Local gives some more background on the sculpture and its subject.
“...it was supposed to keep Ai in the headlines and honour his commitment to justice in an ironic way... Ai’s well-known work has included everything from sculptures to being retained as a consultant for architecture during the Beijing 2008 Olympics.”
The lifelike sculpture is one of three copies.
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