Wire report
Ai Weiwei: Button Up! review – skeleton chandeliers, a real-life temple – and too much silly Lego
Aviva Studios, Manchester The artist’s latest show is a staggering takedown of colonial history, warfare and the migrant crisis, featuring buttons by the tonne and richly perfumed tea History has repeated itself all over Ai Weiwei’s vast exhibition of monumental sculpture in Manchester. The flags of long-lost nations hang from the ceiling, bronzes looted by dead empires have been recast and reclaimed, dilapidated ancient ruins have been rebuilt. Everywhere you look here, you will find death, exploitation, greed and suffering from across human history, brought back to life and put morbidly on display. The first thing you see is a black glass chandelier made of skeletons – The Human Comedy – and a wall covered in images of the most powerful bombs ever invented. Like a head on a stake, this is art as warning. This massive, ambitious exhibition is the Chinese artist at his most monumental, a
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Aviva Studios, Manchester The artist’s latest show is a staggering takedown of colonial history, warfare and the migrant crisis, featuring buttons by the tonne and richly perfumed tea History has repeated itself all over Ai Weiwei’s vast exhibition of monumental sculpture in Manchester. The flags of long-lost nations hang from the ceiling, bronzes looted by dead empires have been recast and reclaimed, dilapidated ancient ruins have been rebuilt. Everywhere you look here, you will find death, exploitation, greed and suffering from across human history, brought back to life and put morbidly on display. The first thing you see is a black glass chandelier made of skeletons – The Human Comedy – and a wall covered in images of the most powerful bombs ever invented. Like a head on a stake, this is art as warning. This massive, ambitious exhibition is the Chinese artist at his most monumental, a
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According to The Guardian, Ai Weiwei: Button Up! review – skeleton chandeliers, a real-life temple – and too much silly Lego reports that Aviva Studios, Manchester The artist’s latest show is a staggering takedown of colonial history, warfare and the migrant crisis, featuring buttons by the tonne and richly perfumed tea History has repeated itself all over Ai Weiwei’s vast exhibition of monumental sculpture in Manchester. The flags of long-lost nations hang from the ceiling, bronzes looted by dead empires have been recast and reclaimed, dilapidated ancient ruins have been rebuilt. Everywhere you look here, you will find death, exploitation, greed and suffering from across human history, brought back to life and put morbidly on display. The first thing you see is a black glass chandelier made of skeletons – The Human Comedy – and a wall covered in images of the most powerful bombs ever invented. Like a head on a stake, this is art as warning. This massive, ambitious exhibition is the Chinese artist at his most monumental, a
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- Ai Weiwei: Button Up! review – skeleton chandeliers, a real-life temple – and too much silly LegoThe Guardian - 2026-07-01T14:42:06+00:00
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