Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei

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Chinese conceptual artist Ai Weiwei explores the multitude and complexity of the challenges within our contemporary society. Known for observing and commenting political and social changes of his home country but also the Western world, his artistic practice revolves around sensitive themes such as human rights, freedom of speech, economic exploitation or environmental damages and often takes a step beyond the art world. As a fine connoisseur of Chinese art and antiques, Ai's work often reflects on the perception of Chinese culture and the alienation of ancient objects. In his sculptures and installations, he favours the use of traditional materials such as porcelain, jade, marble or precious wood while being also well known for his films and photographs as well as his architectural and curatorial work.

"Ai Weiwei transforms his life into art, turning the things he encounters and the events he experiences into artistic statements. Yet this personal aspect is often coupled with references to specifically Chinese material and […] traditions. Regardless of whether he deconstructs these traditions or reshapes them, thus imbuing them with new qualities, their original meanings remain present in his works. By identifying and interpreting these references, one may hope to contribute to a better understanding of the multifaceted and highly complex dimensions of his art."

Uta Rahman-Steinert Ambivalent Deconstruction. Ai Weiwei's approach to tradition in Ai Weiwei. Evidence, Prestel, 2014

Image: Surveillance Camera and Plinth, 
2015
, marble
, 52 x 52 x 120 cm

Solo Exhibitions

Ai Weiwei - Galerie Max Hetzler

Ai Weiwei

57, rue du Temple, Paris

3 September – 8 October 2016

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

EDMUND DE WAAL | AI WEIWEI

Kneaded Knowledge

The Language of Ceramics

National Gallery, Prague

17 March – 27 August 2017
Ai Weiwei

Libero

Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence

23 September 2016 – 22 January 2017
Ai Weiwei

#SafePassage

Foam, Amsterdam

16 September – 7 December 2016
Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei at Cycladic

Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens

20 May – 30 October 2016

Biography

Show Vita
Show Selected Bibliography

Selected Press

Welt am Sonntag May 2019

The New York Times 2016

Financial Times Weekend 2015

News

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei: Bare Life (solo show)
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, St. Louis
28 September 2019 - 5 January 2020

This fall the newly expanded and renovated Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will reopen with a major exhibition of work by Ai Weiwei. The renowned Chinese dissident artist and activist is internationally known for rigorous, compassionate, and complex artworks that address themes of political, ethical, ...
Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei

Everything is art. Everything is politics (solo show)
K20 / K21, Kunstsammlung NRW, Düsseldorf
18 May - 1 September 2019

"Everything is art. Everything is politics": with these words, the internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Ai Weiwei encapsulates the basic principle of his working approach. This motto is also the leitmotif of his largest exhibition in Europe to date, which will be on view simultaneously at ...
Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei

Unbroken (solo show)
Gardiner Museum, Toronto
28 February - 9 June 2019

Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most influential artists and human rights activists, as well as one of China’s most formidable critics. Known for smashing conventions—and ceramics—with iconic works like Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, he upends the cultural traditions and materials of his native ...
Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei

CHINESE WHISPERS: Recent Art from the Sigg Collection (group show)
MAK, Vienna
30 January - 26 May 2019

With CHINESE WHISPERS: Recent Art from the Sigg Collection a comprehensive exhibition on Chinese contemporary art is coming to Vienna. Uli Sigg has been following the development of contemporary art in China since the late 1970s. In the mid-1990s, he started putting together the world’s most ...
Ai Weiwei