Launching: Saturday 13 April 2024
We are delighted to share a new special edition of our Ai Weiwei ‘Cats’ print, now in silver.
Ai Weiwei and his son Ai Lao created a limited edition print for Kettle’s Yard to celebrate the exhibition Ai Weiwei: The Liberty of Doubt. The print depicted two cats, Maple and Birch, belonging to Ai Weiwei and Ai Lao.
Edition Details
Price: £750 unframed
Edition: 200 + 30 A/Ps
Numbered and dated
Signed in pencil by Ai Weiwei
Silver Foil Block on Saunders Waterford 300gsm
272 x 328 mm
Gallery
Framing Specification
Please note the print comes unframed. If you would like to frame it (as in the above images) we recommend the following specification, which has been approved by the artist:
- Float mounted with 25mm visible border on each edge on Colourmount ‘Soft White’ or similar acid-free conservation board.
- 6mm deep spacer to match mountboard colour.
- Moulding is ‘Metallics Satin Silver Aluminium’ (6mm wide x 23mm deep, from Lionpic.co.uk), low reflection glass (Tru Vue Ultra view or similar).
Our local framing partner is Jonny Aldous. Please contact Jonny directly on provincialframes@gmail.com. The cost of the frame is £89 plus P&P. Please note payment is to Provincial Frames, not Kettle’s Yard.
About the Print
Drawing has been fundamental to Ai Weiwei’s artistic practice from an early age. He also has a longstanding love of cats, and they appear frequently in the artist’s social media posts. Many cats used to roam his studio in Beijing.
As part of the Kettle’s Yard exhibition Ai Weiwei: The Liberty of Doubt in 2022, Ai’s ‘Cats wallpaper’ (2015) was displayed in the Castle Street window. This artwork was originally exhibited as ‘Studio Cats’ in the exhibition Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, reflecting both artists’ mutual love of cats. For Kettle’s Yard, the drawing of Maple and Birch was inserted among the other cats depicted on the wallpaper.
I like cats very much because of their independent character, alertness and understanding of human beings; I have feelings approximating to reverence for them. Cats have been regarded as psychic animals since ancient times, no matter in China or ancient Greece. What’s even more interesting is that if a selfie of mine would be seen by 100 people, a cat photo would be seen by 1000 people. I believe that everyone can share this happiness.
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei: The Liberty of Doubt
We were delighted to present an exhibition by Ai Weiwei (born 1957, Bejing, China), one of the world’s most renowned and significant artists. The exhibition explored truth, authenticity and value, as well as globalisation, the coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical crises.