For his major exhibition "Everything is Art. Everything is Politics" took place from May 18 to September 1, 2019, at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ai Weiwei has created a new photographic self-portrait in which he confronts the viewer head-on. The reference to Joseph Beuys’ famous 1971 poster La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi is a clear homage to a kindred spirit—but it also highlights a fundamental difference in the political consciousness of their times.
While Beuys’ slogan (translated as “we are the revolution”) is rooted in the conviction that art can bring about revolutionary change, Ai Weiwei’s question ‘Where’s the revolution?’ is almost ironic, shaped by the political pragmatism of an activist persecuted during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Yet this does not diminish the optimism of the image: this man is searching, he is on a journey — something Ai Weiwei continues to demonstrate through his multifaceted work. The work is based on Ai Weiwei´s life-size proportions, making his confident stride towards the viewer all the more powerful, as if ready to dynamically step out of the image, in a confrontational way but also encouraging the viewer to join him towards a revolution.
“ I wouldn't say that the street is a good place to do the revolution. But when you have no other place (then) the street a good place, the shopping mall is a good place, the subway is a good place, the airport is a good place. Whenever human goes is a good place, because our mind is a good place and we can go anywhere to do the revolution. „