Participatory installation by Lawrence Weiner at Gallery Weekend Beijing 2023

26 May 2023

26 May – 4 June 2023

IOMA Square, 798 Art District, Beijing

A large-scale participatory installation conceived by Lawrence Weiner is presented as part of the public program of Gallery Weekend Beijing 2023.

Widely recognized as one of the most significant and iconic artists of Conceptual Art, Weiner pursued inquiries into language and a radical redefinition of the artist/viewer relationship throughout his practice. Sprawling across the IOMA Square at the 798 Art District, 1 FOR THE MONEY / 2 FOR THE SHOW / 3 TO GET READY & 4 TO GO was first realized in 1991 for his exhibition at DIA Center for the Arts in New York and reimagined and installed at a parking lot in Lyon, France in 2008.

The iteration at the 798 Art District is modeled on a hopscotch, inviting the audience to engage through the use of Weiner's signature typographic texts. Accompanying the grids are original texts in English with Chinese translations, allowing the audience to interact with the floored installation in relation to their own everyday experience. As Weiner once said, "If it takes, it will give them [the audience] something to help understand their relation to the world, and that is all that art is supposed to be about."

Weiner’s participation at Beijing Gallery Weekend runs in conjunction with his solo exhibition with Lisson Gallery Beijing (27 May – 14 October 2023), which is his first in China since the 2008 exhibition, ‘TO ALLOW THE LIGHT’ at the UCCA, Beijing,