Artist Detail | Ilham Gallery
Ai Weiwei
1957, China
Ai Weiwei
1957, China

Artist, architect, poet, activist Ai Weiwei (b. 1957, China) is one of the most influential figures in contemporary art and cultural practice today. Divina Proportione (2015) at ILHAM Tower is the first permanent public sculptural work of his to be installed in Southeast Asia. An expression of mathematical elegance and beauty, the work reflects the artist’s long standing engagement with form and its significance. Its title alludes to Luca Pacioli’s book on mathematical proportions and their applications to geometry, visual art and architecture, published in 1509, with drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, including images of various polyhedrons. For the sculptures at ILHAM Tower, the polyhedron forms which are constructed of bronze parts, polished to a “rose” finish and assembled using stainless steel joints, take on a more modern industrial aesthetic, forming a conversation with the high-tech architecture of this new building in Kuala Lumpur’s urbanscape.