Art Review: Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals at Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum

THE SACRAMENTO BEE

BY Victoria Dalkey

The Monkey in Ai Weiwei's Chinese zodiac menagerie represents a creature traditionally viewed in Chinese culture as sensitive, empathetic, opportunistic, restless, confident, entertaining, funny and generous. Monkeys are said to be good planners, designers, stockbrokers and theologians.

CALIFORNIA---The Chinese New Year celebration will usher in the Year of the Monkey on Monday, Feb. 8. Intelligent, inquisitive, competitive and fun-loving, the monkey is one of the most prized signs of the Chinese zodiac. A 10-foot-tall bronze evocation of the monkey by internationally famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is up in the Crocker Art Museum’s outdoor courtyard, along with the other 11 Chinese zodiac animals. Arranged in a semicircle, they tower over viewers, both children and adults, transfixed by the 1,600-pound heads rising up on columns that resemble spouts of water. [link]

Crocker Art Museum: "Ai Weiwei Circle of Animals: Zodiac Heads" (Ends May 1, 2016); 216 O St.. Sacramento, CA; (916) 808-7000; crockerartmuseum.org