AI Wewei takes his work to one of the most dangerous stages to date: the Oriental Front in Ukraine. A few weeks before the unveiling of a large installation in Kiev, AI headed to Kharkiv, a city of regular Russian bombing, where he met soldiers, poets and cultural figures who resisted the Moscow invasion.
On Instagram, AI posted a stark image without title: Ukrainian flag rolling in the wind, soldiers in the trenches, sunflowers in the fields, fragments of Khalkif’s constructivist architecture, and even the puzzle of the 19th-century Canvas by Ilya Repin Zaporizhzhian Cossacks’ reply. He also took pictures with black fatigue labeled “Katya”, the name of a volunteer unit since absorbing the Ukrainian National Guard. Among its fighters are poets Serhiy Zhadan and Pyotr Verzilov, a spokesman for Pussy Riot announced the terrorists in Russia.
“I see their lives are extremely difficult…but their determination is very strong,” AI told Art newspaperadding that there is no negotiation that can determine the fate of the Ukrainians who are unwilling to live under occupation. Verzilov recorded the access in the videotape, showing the AI wearing camouflage body armor, who he called him “the chief artist of modernity” because he appeared on the frontline.
The visit coincided with a new strike in Russia: at least 14 people were killed in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, Volodymyr Zelensky, who met Donald Trump and European leaders at the White House. The attack happened after Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin, Alaska, where the U.S. president urged the trilateral summit.
The next behavior of AI will be unfolded in the capital. His installation Three perfect proportions of spheres and camouflage uniform painted white– Playing in the mathematical study of Leonardo da Vinci – Opening on September 14 at Pavilion 13, renovated in the renovated Soviet-era hall. The work was commissioned by Riarbon International and lasts until November 30. AI calls it a “dialogue about rationality and irrationality.”
