LongHouse Reserve, located on 16 acres with botanical gardens, water features, and curated collection of sculpture in North West Woods, East Hampton, NY, allows visitors to experience contemporary art in natural breathing spaces. Sculptures are large, esoteric, and inviting. Created by Jack Lenor Larsen, the doyen of LongHouse Reserve, now 92 makes Long House Reserve his sometimes home. The three dimensional permanent and temporary installations allow the play of color, light, and texture to be studied by students, tourists, and regular visitors. LongHouse reserve allows visitors to experience art in real life as sculptures, gardens, and ethnographic craft. It truly is an experience.
Larson, a world traveler, connoisseur, author, scholar, collector and weaver of traditional textiles and crafts, pulls concepts from cultures world wide. He is one of very few Americans to be honored with an exhibition in the Palais du Lourvre. He is known for the use of raw materials, making everything look home-made.
“He believes visitors experiencing art in living spaces have a unique learning experience–more meaningful than the best media.” LongHouse
The 13,000 square foot home is comprised of 18 spaces on four levels. LongHouse utilizes other art forms via performance, architecture, digital media, lecture and video where installations by Yoko Ono, Willem de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller and more reside. The property was secured in 1975. However, the home wasn’t built till 1986. Larsen found inspiration in the 7th century Shinto shrine for the sun goddess Amaterasu in Ise, Japan. LongHouse was designed by architect Charles Forberg and built by Joe Tufariello.
This year, LongHouse Reserve, welcomes Ai Weiwei’s henge of Bronze Zodiac Heads displayed in cosmological order according to the traditional Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The 12 1200-1500lb ten-feet tall bronze heads are on view through October 2021. They are placed outside of the henge called the Albee Amphitheater with a cosmic egg in its center with a total weight of 46,000lbs. They are copies of the 18th Century Qing dynasty’s zodiac for the fountain clock of the Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness), an imperial retreat outside Beijing which were looted by the British and French troops during the second Opium War in 1860 during the destruction of Yuanming Yuan. Today, seven heads—the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, horse, monkey, and boar—have been found; the location of the other five— dragon, snake, goat, rooster, and dog—are unknown. LongHouse is the 45th international location to have hosted the circle of animals. In April 2011, Weiwei’s passport was confiscated and he was held by the Chinese Authorities in secret captivity for 81 days. In 2013, Weiwei received the LongHouse Award and was able to send a video of his acceptance speech for his Circle of Animals : Gold.This year’s exhibit is the third one by the artist.
“Ai Weiwei thinks of these heads in the context of looting and repatriation, as well as symbols of Chinese nationalism, allowing visitors to question the ways in which a historical narrative can be made to serve different purposes.” LongHouse
LongHouse- “The sculptures debuted at the São Paulo Biennial in 2010, and then began an international tour, arriving in the U.S. at the Pulitzer Fountain at the Grand Army Plaza in Central Park, New York in 2011. Past exhibition venues include Somerset House, London, UK; LACMA, Los Angeles; The Warhol Museum and Carnegie Museum of Art, PA; Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, UK; Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria;, The National Museum of Wildlife Art, WY; The Tuileries Garden at the Louvre, Paris, France; Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City, Mexico; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; Contemporary Art Centre of Malaga (CAC), Malaga, Spain; Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL; and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C, among other notable locations around the world. Bronze exhibition in Chicago in 2014, the sculptures were hooded as a reminder that the artist was still held in China. In 2016 Ai was granted his freedom and he visited the National Gallery in Prague to see the Zodiac Heads: Bronze installed at a museum for the first time in person.”LongHouse
ABOUT AI WEIWEI- Via LongHouse
Artist, curator, architectural designer, and social activist, Ai Weiwei is perhaps the best known and most successful contemporary Chinese artist working today. He was born in Beijing in 1957 and is the son of the acclaimed, Ai Qing, one of the country’s finest modernist poets. Ai Qing’s poetry appeared in nearly every literature textbook in China until he was branded a rightist and exiled to the countryside with his family (including his infant son Ai Weiwei) for 19 years. Ai Weiwei’s birthright is simultaneously one of a cultural insider and a political outsider. Growing up in exile laid the groundwork for his future role as an artist-activist and champion for freedom of speech and social justice. Upon his return to Beijing in 1978, Ai Weiwei became a founding member of The Stars (Xing Xing), one of the first avant-garde art groups in modern-day China. In 1981, he moved to New York where he lived for 10 years and gained attention for his artwork that transformed everyday objects into conceptual works—the notion of the ‘readymade’ as inspired by Marcel Duchamp. Returning to China in 1993, the artist co-founded the Chinese Art Archive & Warehouse, a non-profit gallery in Beijing where he still serves as director. Ai Weiwei regularly exhibits in major museums and galleries around the world. He worked closely with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron to design the 2008 National Olympic Stadium (“The Bird’s Nest”). After being allowed to leave China in 2015, he and his family have lived in Berlin, Germany and in Cambridge, UK (his home since 2019) while working
and traveling internationally.
LONGHOUSE RESERVE
LongHouse is open Wednesday through Saturday from 1pm – 5pm. Admission for members is free. For the General Public $15. $10 for Seniors. Students and Children are FREE. Among the first arts intuitions on the East End to reopen, LongHouse is committed to making this reopening as safe as possible, and will be taking every precaution necessary,
including:
● Per state directives, face coverings will be required for visitors aged 10 years and older and are recommended for ages 2+.
● Masks will be available upon entry for those who do not have one.
● Children without masks must be kept in strollers.
● Visitors must maintain 6 feet social distancing, unless you are family.
● Benches will be roped off temporarily.
● Bathrooms, water fountains and gift shop will be closed temporarily.
● Gardens will close promptly at 5:30pm.
● Guests must exit by the Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome.
● Timed tickets will regulate the number of visitors. You can now reserve your tickets through the month of August on their website.
For more information: https://www.longhouse.org
