Ai Weiwei , né le 28 août 1957 à Pékin, est un des artistes majeurs de la scène artistique indépendante chinoise, à la fois sculpteur, performer, photographe, architecte, commissaire d'exposition et blogueur.
Il est le fils du poète et intellectuel Ai Qing , et demi-frère du peintre Ai Xuan . Il est marié à l'artiste Lu Qing. Il a un fils, Ai Lao.
Architecte, il a été conseiller artistique pour le cabinet d'architecture suisse Herzog & de Meuron lors de la réalisation du stade national de Pékin construit pour les Jeux olympiques d'été de 2008.
Il est l'un des 303 intellectuels chinois signataires de la Charte 08. Dans son classement annuel, le magazine Art Review l'a désigné comme la figure la plus puissante de l'art contemporain en 2011 : « Son militantisme a rappelé comment l'art peut atteindre un large public et se connecter au monde réel ».
Ai Weiwei a été arrêté par la police le 3 avril 2011, officiellement pour évasion fiscale, et libéré sous caution le 22 juin 2011, après 81 jours d'enfermement dans un lieu inconnu et dans des conditions dégradantes, ce qui avait soulevé une vague d'indignation à travers le monde. Il reste en liberté conditionnelle et ne peut quitter Pékin sans autorisation, jusqu'au 22 juillet 2015, date à laquelle il récupère son passeport chinois.
“Very few people know why art sells so high. I don’t even know.”
Ai Weiwei, interview in “ Change http://www.pbs.org/art21/watch-now/episode-change,” Episode 1, Season Six, Art: 21—Art in the Twenty-First Century, PBS, April 2012. <br class="br">2010-, 2012
2010-, I have to speak for people who are afraid, 2010
“During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.”
Ai Weiwei on Twitter in English (beta). (December 10, 2011) http://aiwwenglish.tumblr.com/
2010-, Twitter feeds, 2010-12
“Chairman Mao was the first in the world to use Twitter. All his quotations are within 140 words.”
2000-09, The Bold and the Beautiful, 2009
Wines, Michael. “ China’s Impolitic Artist, Still Waiting to Be Silenced http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/asia/28weiwei.html?pagewanted=all.” New York Times, November 28, 2009. <br class="br">2000-09, 2009
“Art is always about overcoming obstacles between the inner condition and the skill for expression.”
Solway, Diane. “Enforced Disappearance.” W Magazine, November 2011.
2010-, 2011
2010-, Ai Weiwei Does Not Feel Powerful, 2011
“I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical.”
“ Artist’s Quotes http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series-ai-weiwei/artists-quotes”. Excerpted from a conversation with curators Juliet Bingham and Marko Daniel, Beijing, May 31 and June 1, 2010. Tate Museums, UK. <br class="br">2010-, 2010
“Creativity is part of human nature. It can only be untaught.”
2010-, Life’s Work: Ai Weiwei, 2012
“Antiques exist as evidence of the cultural tracks we made in the past.”
2000-09, Truth to Power, 2009
“I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art.”
Osnos, Evan. “ It’s Not Beautiful: An Artist Takes On the System http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/05/24/100524fa_fact_osnos?currentPage=all.” New Yorker, May 24, 2010, 54–63. <br class="br">2010-, 2010
Ai Weiwei, “In China, Is Censorship the Mother of Creativity?” Interview on The Stream, Aljazeera, April 16, 2012.
2010-, 2012
2010-, I have to speak for people who are afraid, 2010
Gill, Chris. “ Ai Weiwei: ‘To use art is not enough.’ http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/“To-use-art-is-not-enough”/19818” Art Newspaper, December 3, 2009. <br class="br">2000-09, 2009
2000-09, An Artist’s Ordeal. 2009
2010-, Ai Weiwei: The Dissident, 2011
“Maybe there is something I got from it. Maybe you also start to be clear on certain things.”
2010-, Ai Weiwei: 'Every day I think, this will be the day I get taken in again...', 2011
2000-09, Happiness Can’t Be Faked, 2008
“They know too many things they should not know and they do not know some things they need to know.”
Moore, Malcolm. " 'Ai Weiwei: "The police can be very tough, but I can be tougher sometimes.”' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/9299885/Ai-Weiwei-The-police-can-be-very-tough-but-I-can-be-tougher-sometimes.html," in: Telegraph, May 30, 2012. <br class="br">2010-, 2012
“Expressing oneself is like a drug. I’m so addicted to it.”
2000-09, The Bold and the Beautiful, 2009
2010-, Ai Weiwei Does Not Feel Powerful, 2011
“ Why I’ll Stay Away from the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/07/olympics2008.china.” Guardian, August 7, 2008. <br class="br">2000-09, 2008
“The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.”
“ Ai Weiwei: Artistic Licence http://www.economist.com/node/21554178.” Economist, May 5, 2012. <br class="br">2010-, 2012
Ai Weiwei on Twitter in English (beta). http://aiwwenglish.tumblr.com/ (January 10, 2011)
2010-, Twitter feeds, 2010-12
“Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.”
2010-, The City: Beijing, 2011
“I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.”
“ Artist’s Quotes http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series-ai-weiwei/artists-quote.” Excerpted from a conversation with curators Juliet Bingham and Marko Daniel, Beijing, May 31 and June 1, 2010. Tate Museums, UK. <br class="br">2010-, 2010
2000-09, Ai Weiwei, Nursing Head Wound, Sharpens Criticism, 2009
