Ai Weiwei

Born in 1957, the Beijing native, Ai Weiwei, is a multidisciplinary artist, sculptor, blogger, architect, and curator. He studied cinema at the Beijing Film Academy and then attended Parsons School of Design in New York. The artist lived and worked in Beijing but has lived in the United States for many years. At the beginning of the 1980s, Ai Weiwei moved to New York to photograph scenes of daily life in an effort to capture the habits and lifestyles of its inhabitants. In 1993, he returned to Beijing to pursue this practice there. Through his work, he attempts to paint a national portrait by reflecting daily life and social customs. 

Ai Weiwei is a major artist in the contemporary art scene. His works are vast, nonconformist, and provocative, which has led to repercussions. His arrest by the Chinese government in 2011 for tax evasion was more for his activism and critique of Chinese society. He has largely contributed to the evolution of the social reality of his country; his art is an account of his perception of the world and his concerns. He uses social media to voice his opinions by publishing photos and texts via Twitter or his blog. He manages to reach a wide population with his numerous followers.

A politically engaged artist, Ai Weiwei joined the avant-garde artists' collective “The Stars" in 1979 and promotes liberal values centered on freedom of expression and opposes the Socialist Realism promoted by the state. He draws inspiration from artists such as Duchamp or Warhol, subversive artists who are known for their critiques of society, just like Ai Weiwei.

He creates numerous sculptures from traditional Chinese objects, from porcelain vases to Qing dynasty furniture. By doing so, Ai Weiwei describes a dual society, divided between individualism and collectivism. He participated in the construction of China's national stadium, known as the 'Bird's Nest', for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Ai Weiwei's works have been exhibited in the US at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in the UK, Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Australia, China, South Korea, and in Japan at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo.