Automotive art gallery Free Parking hosted a short exhibition of LEGO works by Ai Weiwei. I didn’t realize the gallery was closed on the only day I could visit. However a chance meeting with curator and CART Department founder Larry Warsh resulted in him letting me in for a 10 minute private viewing. Thank you again, Larry.
The exhibition includes over a dozen of Ai Weiwei’s LEGO paintings including the zodiac series and a few masterwork reproductions.
The main feature of the show was the BMW LEGO car, a 5-Series overflowing with thousands of random pieces of LEGO. It was technically the second such BMW in this space to be used as a LEGO car following the 1995 BMW 730i repurposed earlier in the year by Austin Babbitt.
Full Description
Ai Weiwei is an artist whose work examines the relationship between art, politics, freedom of expression, and systems of power. Working across sculpture, installation, film, architecture, and social practice, Weiwei uses familiar materials and cultural symbols to question authority, censorship, and the role of the individual within contemporary society.
In ‘Ai Weiwei LEGO Story’, presented by CART Department, the artist revisits his long-running use of LEGO as both medium and political symbol through works including his BMW LEGO Car, Zodiac symbols, portraits, and reinterpretations of historical artworks. Sparked in part by a public dispute with the LEGO company after Weiwei used the bricks to depict political dissidents and human rights activists, the exhibition reflects how everyday materials can become vehicles for broader conversations around corporate power, free speech, and collective participation.
Photos and Text: Dave Pinter
Additional Text: CART Department
