The renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has partnered with Human Rights Watch and the Swiss art publisher JRP|Editions on three series of limited edition lithographs that will be available in September 2024, and can be previewed on jrp-editions.com.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit Human Rights Watch.
The artworks consist of three series of 99 lithographs released in three colors: "Malibu," "Sunshine," and "Peach." They resemble a geometric tile consisting of surveillance cameras, Twitter birds, and handcuffs to symbolize the struggle for freedom of speech. The "Grass Mud Horse" lithographs are all numbered and signed by Ai Weiwei. The title in Chinese is a homophone for either a mythical animal or a vulgar profanity used to insult a person's mother. The animal, which resembles a llama, has become a Chinese internet meme as a tongue-in-cheek icon of resistance to censorship by China's online communities.
"Ai Weiwei is an inspiration to people fighting oppression the world over," said Tirana Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "We are absolutely thrilled to be working with him again and to partner with JRP|Editions to release his very first lithographic editions." The lithographs will be released at 12 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CEST on Tuesday, September 10 and can be preordered for CHF 1,500 (roughly US$1,750) each.
Ai Weiwei is the son of a poet who fell out of favor with the Chinese Communist party and was sent to a labor camp. A conceptual artist who fuses traditional craftsmanship and his Chinese heritage, Ai Weiwei's work often revolves around human rights and democracy themes. The Chinese government held him in a secret police detention center in 2011 without any formal charges and confiscated his passport. In 2015, he left China when his passport was returned.
He previously partnered with Human Rights Watch during the Covid-19 pandemic, printing his artwork on masks in a mass activism project. The project focused on the simple face mask, a ubiquitous form of protection during the pandemic but one that is banned in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protesters used masks before the emergence of Covid-19 to evade police tear gas and facial recognition technology.
His works of art were printed on the masks, including symbols of free speech, surveillance, persecution, mass obedience, and defiance. This project of mass activism raised $1.4 million for Human Rights Watch's work on human rights in the pandemic and also benefited two colleague organizations, Refugees International and Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
This new partnership was created under the initiative of Deborah Najar, a cultural strategist, and Helena Bjäringer, Human Rights Watch's Geneva Committee member, who has been involved in the organization's Art+Activism initiative, which engages artists, curators, and galleries in the human rights movement.
About JRP|Editions
Since it was founded in 1997, JRP|Editions (formerly JRP|Ringier, 2004-2018) has established itself as an independent international publisher of contemporary art. Partnering with artists, museums, galleries, and private institutions worldwide, it has built up a catalogue of more than 550 titles currently in active distribution.
In 2019, JRP|Editions opened a new department dedicated to fine art multiples. Since then, it has released over 70 limited editions, including lithographs, screen prints, monotypes, sculptures, neon lights, mirrors and textiles, in collaboration with artists of all generations and nationalities.
