Artist30: Ai Weiwei

 

Chinese-born artist Ai Weiwei is definitely one of the most eclectic and acclaimed artists that I've looked at so far. He is also one of the most embattled and controversial political activists in the art world. He has been held by Chinese authorities on charges of tax evasion and other charges. The Chinese government has disdained Weiwei and his work for decades, and the controversy surrounding his incarceration has swept across the art world. His website is currently non-operational (likely linked to his imprisonment), but several support groups and movements have sprung up. The freeaiweiwei website was quite active, keeping a close record on the state of the artist and his imprisonment. There is also a film about his life and work that was recently released called Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry by Alison Klayman.

Weiwei's art is especially contentious in the context of Chinese society and politics, his work and political commentary constantly criticizing and questioning the norm. One of his most famous and, again, controversial pieces is a series of three photographs of him dropping and breaking an ancient Chinese pot. Though he loved and respected traditional Chinese pottery and art, he valued even more the need for a drastic change in art and culture. The statement in this piece was loud and upsetting to many and communicated his idea well.



He has also made a film criticizing Chinese preparedness and response to natural disasters - specifically earthquakes - and the coverup of information by officials following these events, and is constantly

Weiwei is one of the best examples of an artist using their craft as an engine for change. He is referred to by many as 'Ai God' who see him as a leader of positive change. He says, "I don't want the next generation to fight the same fight as I did", and he's making his efforts to this end quite apparent. The maker of the documentary film about him commented on Weiwei's trial in a BBC interview, saying that he is using his incarceration to expose the corruption in the system, as his evidence was refused and he was being denied the right to be present at his trial. Weiwei's work is a strong reminder that art is not just for enjoyment or aesthetic value or the expression of abstract concepts, but for very real and very universal issues immediately relevant to all.