Friday, April 25, 2025 – THIS FALL THE FDR PARK WITH BE COVERED IN CAMOUFLAGE

By admin

Ai Weiwei Installation Coming to Roosevelt Island

6SQFT

Devon Gannon

Friday,  April 25, 2025

ISSUE #1434

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei will unveil his first major artwork in New York City since 2017 this fall. Four Freedoms Park Conservancy on Thursday announced it had commissioned the Chinese artist for a monumental installation on Roosevelt Island that will open this September. “Camouflage” will take over all 3.5 acres of FDR Four Freedoms State Park, with an open architectural structure that rises above its granite walls and is draped in camouflage netting.

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei will unveil his first major artwork in New York City since 2017 this fall. Four Freedoms Park Conservancy on Thursday announced it had commissioned the Chinese artist for a monumental installation on Roosevelt Island that will open this September. “Camouflage” will take over all 3.5 acres of FDR Four Freedoms State Park, with an open architectural structure that rises above its granite walls and is draped in camouflage netting.

Aerial view of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park looking West. Image Credit: Iwan Baan

On view from September 10 through December 1, “Camouflage” will cover sections of the park with a camo netting, creating a shelter over the bust of FDR. According to a press release, the pattern elicits thoughts of war and nationalism, as well as functions like disguise and protection. The camo will incorporate images of animals, instead of its usual abstract design, a tribute to the history of Roosevelt Island as a sanctuary for wildlife.

At the top of the sanctuary will be a traditional Ukrainian proverb on the dual nature of war: “For some people, war is war, for others, war is the dear mothers.” Visitors will be able to write reflections on freedom on ribbons and attach them to the netting, adding a collective element to the public work.

The exhibition coincides with the 80th session of the U.N. General Assembly and the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“Camouflage” is the first commission under the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy’s new initiative Art X Freedom, which will invite artists to create site-specific works that examine social justice and freedom.

Following Ai’s commission, Art X Freedom will commission future projects through a request-for-proposal process that will seek artists working “at the crossroads of social justice and contemporary expression.” Three artists will be invited to develop full proposals and receive stipends of up to $12,500 to support the project. The finalist will be awarded $25,000 and will have their project built in collaboration with the Conservancy and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation.

The 2026 finalists will be announced this fall, with the next installation opening in September 2026.

“Artists have paved the way in activism and advocacy throughout history. Art X Freedom amplifies this work by inviting contemporary artists to re-envision FDR’s freedoms for future generations by realizing major new public artworks,” Howard Axel, CEO of Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, said.

“It is an honor to be collaborating with Ai Weiwei to launch this initiative, which marks the first of its kind to activate and transform a presidential memorial and state park.”

Designed by modernist architect Louis Kahn, FDR Four Freedoms Park opened on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in 2012 to honor the former president and as well as the human freedoms he championed: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Ai is an obvious choice as the inaugural Art X Freedom commission. The renowned contemporary artist is a social activist and Chinese dissident who is known for works that focus on human rights and free expression.

Ai’s last major work in New York City was “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” commissioned in 2017 by the Public Design Commission. The multi-site exhibition was a response to the global migration crisis and to show that while barriers divide us, “humans… are all the same.”

“Ai Weiwei is globally renowned for his provocative and thought-provoking body of work and his staunch and unwavering advocacy for human rights,” Allison Binns, Conservancy board member and Art X Freedom Co-chair, said.

“We could not have found a more perfect partner or resonant project to help us introduce Art X Freedom to the world and inspire park visitors.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A VISITOR TO THE KIOSK LEFT US
THIS WONDERFUL PHOTO OF THE GIRL PUZZLE

CREDITS

6SQFT

JUDITH BERDY

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

Copyright © 2024 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com