Ai Weiwei. Black 5, 2015

Industrial paint in black, on Munken Polar paper dust-jacket, with the accompanying boxed exhibition catalogue,
I. 29.5 x 57 cm (11 5/8 x 22 1/2 in.) unfolded S. 30.5 x 100 cm (12 x 39 3/8 in.)
signed in pencil on the right folded panel (visible on the reverse), further signed (printed) and numbered XX/108 in black ink on the accompanying Certificate of Authenticity, from the edition of unique variants in ten colours, published by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, for the artist edition of their Ai Weiwei retrospective, 19 Sept - 13 Dec 2015.

The dust jackets for the artist edition of the catalogue of Ai Weiwei’s 2015 exhibition at the Royal Academy have been individually painted by the artist in one of ten colours: black, white, yellow, red, green, blue, purple, turquoise, lilac and grey. In each, a bold, calligraphic stroke sweeps across the paper to produce a painting of great vibrancy and spontaneity in celebration of the tactile qualities of the medium. Using a fully loaded brush, Ai has allowed the paint to run and dribble down the paper under its own weight, producing works with an affinity to his Coloured Vases, which he creates by dipping antique Chinese ceramics into the same type of brightly coloured paint and allowing it to flow down each vessel.

Industrial paint on 170 gsm Munken Polar paper. 30 x 100 cm