Last week, artist Geandy Pavon projected an image of imprisoned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's face onto the side of the Chinese Consulate building on 12th Avenue. According to Hyperallergic, "The piece is part of Pavon’s Nemesis project," which originally paid tribute to Cuban prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo; Pavon said, "The concept of the project is to impose the face of the victim on buildings walls that house government offices … The light on the wall is a symbol of revelation.'"
Last week, the Chinese government officially charged Ai with tax evasion. Ai has been detained since April 3, and the Financial Times reports "Since then, his whereabouts had been unknown until his wife was first allowed to meet him last Sunday." However, the whereabouts of some of his friends are still unknown.
Ai had been speaking out against the Chinese government, which has been concerned of a Jasmine Revolution uprising against the government, similar to the Arab Spring.
One of Ai's works, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, is now on display at the plaza across from Central Park's southeast corner; when Mayor Bloomberg opened the exhibit, he said, "Today, we stand in solidarity with the millions of people around the world who are hoping that Ai Weiwei is quickly and safely released. And we stand in solidarity with the billions of people who do not have the most fundamental of all human rights, the most cherished of all American values, and the most valuable of all New York City’s riches: free expression. New York is a city that fully embodies that spirit and fiercely defends the right of all people to express themselves." And for over a dozen years, in the 1980s through 1993, Ai was a street artist in NYC.
