Reasons to Love New York: The Chinese Dissident Edition

Have you guys heard of Ai Weiwei? He's a Chinese dissident artist, who in addition to his work is known for his "...sharp tongue and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party."

One of Ai Weiwei's most well known works, porcelain hand painted sunflower seeds, is on display at Chelsea's Mary Boone Gallery until February 4th. Ai Weiwei's entire exhibition includes 100 million hand painted seeds (which took more than 1,600 people to create), but the exhibition at the Mary Boone Gallery is only some of these seeds. 

My Mom and I have been basically obsessed with these sunflower seeds ever since we heard about them a year or so ago. Earlier this month, I saw an article on the Huffington Post about how they were coming to New York and my Mom and I nearly exploded from excitement (because clearly I called her immediately). We decided that clearly we must go and yesterday we did!

The coolest thing about this (and by cool I mean cool if you're total dorks like us) is that you don't even need a ticket! You don't even check in when you get there, you literally walk through the door on West 24th Street, walk past a man at a desk, hang a right and there they are! Right on the floor! The Mary Boone Gallery's Ai Wewei exhibit is this week's Reasons to Love New York.

The next picture is my new absolute favorite picture of me and my Mom. It was taken mere minutes after she touched the seeds and got in trouble. Seriously. She bent right down and touched them. And then we got in trouble from the cranky man at the desk.

Mary Boone Gallery, you are awesome! Best Saturday Ever, thanks New York!