LongHouse Reserve held a small, private outdoor celebration last Saturday for their new installation by Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Head: Bronze. 30 donors and board members gathered in the East Hampton garden wearing masks and making socially distant air kisses.

Founder Jack Lenor Larsen created a unique installation of the 12 large sculptural heads by burying their marble bases around the perimeter of LongHouse's outdoor Albee Amphitheater, allowing visitors to experience the sculptures at almost eye level. 

Guests included LongHouse board members Dianne Benson and Lys Marigold, Sherri Donghia and Roger Eulau, Peter Olsen, Suzanne Slesin and Michael Steinberg, Jo Ann and Lee Skolnick, Matko Tomicic, as well as Susie and Michael Gelman, Nina Gillman, Tony Ingrao and Randy Kemper, Deborah Nevins, and Ellie Warsh, to name only a few.

The enormous distances the Zodiac Heads have travelled can be compared with the experiences of the artist. In April 2011, Ai Weiwei was detained for 81 days and later released from secret captivity by Chinese Authorities, but his passport was confiscated and he remained under house arrest until July 2015. For the duration of the Zodiac Heads: Bronze exhibition in Chicago in 2014, the sculptures were hooded as a reminder that the artist was still held in China. He now resides in Berlin and Oxford.

This exhibition is the third time the celebrated Chinese artist has participated with LongHouse; in 2013, he was honored with the LongHouse Award. At the time under house arrest in Beijing, he sent a video as an acceptance speech. In 2013 Ai’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: Gold was also exhibited at LongHouse Reserve

LongHouse Reserve, a 16-acre sculpture garden, is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday from 1pm-5pm. See: https://www.longhouse.org

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