Yesterday I followed my own advice and visited Chinese artist-activist Ai Weiwei’s first outdoor installation in New York City, “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,” which despite a delay and the artist’s ongoing detainment and likely torture in his native China, was unveiled last week in Pulitzer Fountain at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue in front of the Plaza Hotel. (A second edition of the sculptural ensemble is on view in London right now as well.) The twelve immense bronze animal heads span the entire width of the fountain, facing north towards Central Park. They remain on view through July 15 (by which time, we hope, Weiwei will be free), and you can see them all in detail in the slideshow below.
