The Art Students League of New York will honor artists Ai Weiwei and Greg Wyatt at its 2014 Hall of Fame Gala this fall. Since its founding in 1875, League artists from Frederick Remington and Norman Rockwell, to Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollack, Louise Bourgeois, and Cy Twombly, have shaped the course of art around the world.
Ai is among the world’s most provocative and accomplished living artists. An outspoken human rights activist and social critic, he studied at the League from 1983 to 1986. Among his best-known works are his collaboration on the design for the Beijing National Olympic Stadium and his October 2010 installation of Sunflower Seeds at the Tate Modern in London. He is currently prohibited from leaving China, but may appear via satellite at the gala.
Wyatt is a League instructor, benefactor, and the founder of the League’s Model to Monument public art training program. His lyrical cast bronze sculptures, including “Peace Fountain” at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and “The Price of Freedom” at Arlington National Cemetery, grace locations worldwide from Cambridge, MA to Charleston, S.C., and throughout Italy.
In addition to celebrating the League’s rich heritage and worldwide influence, the gala will spotlight talented students who will be sculpting and painting from live models at the event.
Urban Art & Antiques 