AI WEIWEI
Chinese conceptual artist Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) explores the multifaceted nuances and complexities of our contemporary society. Known for observing and commenting on political and social changes in his home country as well as in the Western world, his artistic practice revolves around emotive themes such as human rights, freedom of speech, economic exploitation and environmental damages. His works often move beyond the art world into the realm of social activism. As a fine connoisseur of Chinese art and antiques, Ai often reflects on the perception of Chinese culture and the alienation of ancient objects in his work. In his sculptures and installations, he favours the use of traditional materials such as porcelain, jade, marble or precious wood. He is also celebrated for his films, photographs and works in Lego, as much 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.’
U. Rahman-Steinert, ‘Ambivalent Deconstruction: Ai Weiwei’s approach to tradition’, in Ai Weiwei: Evidence, Prestel, 2014
Image: Surveillance Camera and Plinth, 2015 , marble , 120 x 52 x 52 cm.; 47 1/4 x 20 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. Photo: courtesy of © Ai Weiwei Studio
Selected Works
Solo Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions
Selected Institutional Exhibitions
Biography
VITA
1957
Born in Beijing, China
1981
Graduated Beijing Film Academy, Beijing
1982
Parsons School of Design, New York
2011
Honorary Academician at the Royal Academy of Arts, London
2012
Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the Human Rights Foundation
2013
Appraisers Association Award for Excellence in the Arts
2015
Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International
2018
Marina Kellen French Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award
2019
Frank-Schirrmacher-Prize
2022
Premium Imperiale Award
Lives and works between the UK, Portugal and Germany
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
a/political gallery, London
Art Center Hugo Voeten, Herentals
Centre Pompidou, Paris
De Pont Museum, Tilburg
Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg
Faurschou Foundation, Copenhagen
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek
Marciano Collection, Los Angeles
Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museen Dahlem, Berlin
Museum DKM, Duisburg
Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin
Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Rubell Family Collection, Miami
Tate Modern, London
The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City
ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS
2012
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, designed in collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron, London (constructed)
Urban Folly, Gwangju (under construction)
2010
Sanctuary, Ruta del Peregrino (constructed)
Contemplating the Void” Guggenheim Competition, New York (unrealized)
2009
The Guest House (Tsai Residence), in collaboration with HHF, New York (constructed)
Olympic Tower Competition, London (unrealized)
Kunstmuseum Extension Competition, in collaboration with HHF, Basel (unrealized)
2008
The Beijing Olympic Stadium, in collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron, London (constructed)
The Dog House, Tokyo (unrealized)
53 Caochangdi, Caochangdi, Beijing (constructed)
Red Grey Village (211 Caochangdi), in collaboration with SKA Architects, Caochangdi, Beijing (partially constructed)
Ten Cubes, in collaboration with SKA Architects, Caochangdi, Beijing (unrealized)
Li Jiang Studio, Lijiang, Yunnan (constructed)
Kerry Center Interior (Hanhai Auction House), Beijing (constructed)
Jiading Malu (Shanghai Studio), Shanghai (constructed, destroyed)
Ding Yi Studio, Shanghai (constructed, destroyed)
Curator, urban planning, landscape design of Ordos 100, Ordos (under construction)
Alexander Ochs Gallery Interior, Berlin (unrealized)
2007
Lage Restaurant, Shanghai (constructed)
The Great Pyramid, Dessau (unrealized)
Seventeen Studios, Caochangdi, Beijing (constructed)
Fairytale 1,001 Dormitory, Kassel (constructed, temporary)
Undercover Villa, Ordos (constructed)
Naga Interior Design, in collaboration with EXH, Beijing (constructed)
Red No. 1 Art Galleries, Caochangdi, Beijing (constructed)
Liu Xiaoning Film Studio, Beijing (constructed)
2006
Jinhua Five-Hundred Islands in Conjunction Master Plan, Jinhua, Zhejiang (unrealized)
Art Farm, in collaboration with HHF, New York (constructed)
China Blue Gallery, Beijing (constructed)
Gallery unter den Linden Interior, Berlin (unrealized)
Left Right Studio (Rennovation), Beijing (constructed)
Curator Left Right Art District, Beijing (constructed)
Music Nation Studio, Beijing (unrealized)
Jiangnanhui, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (constructed)
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Caochangdi, Beijing (constructed)
Kunming Art Valley, Kunming, Yunnan (unrealized)
National Art Museum of China Extension (Competition #2), in collaboration with CADG, Beijing (unrealized)
Courtyard House (Ma Jia), Beijing (constructed)
Artist Studio (Concept Design), Hangzhou, Zhejiang (unrealized)
2005
Cola House, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (constructed)
Tsai Residence, in collaboration with HHF, New York (constructed)
National Art Museum of China Extension (Competition #1), in collaboration with CADG, Beijing (unrealized)
Shulang Factory, Yantai, Shandong (constructed)
Courtyard 104 (Galerie Urs Meile), Caochangdi, Beijing (constructed)
Haikou Villa, Hainan (unrealized)
Memorial for Mountain Climbers, Huangshan, Anhui (unrealized)
Guiyan Residential Planning, Kunming, Yunnan (unrealized)
Club House of Water Villa, Lijiang, Yunnan (unrealized)
Tree House, Lijiang, Yunnan (constructed)
Bian Bian Shopping Street, Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan (unrealized)
2004
Ying Cai Tower, Beijing (unrealized)
Qingdao Creative Media Institute of Beijing Film Academy, Qingdao, Shandong (unrealized)
Courtyard 105, Beijing (constructed)
Go Where? Restaurant, Beijing (constructed)
Cuo House, Beijing (unrealized)
Neolithic Pottery Museum, Jinhua, Zhejiang (constructed)
Jinhua Architectural Art Park, Jinhua, Zhejiang (constructed)
National Museum of China (competition), in collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron, Beijing (unrealized)
Nine Boxes, Beijing (constructed)
Artist Residence (Hai Bo), Songzhuang, Beijing (constructed)
Showroom for Courtyard on the Canal, Beijing (constructed)
Six Rooms, Nanjing, Jiangsu (constructed)
Landscape Design of National Stadium, Beijing (unrealized)
China Merchant’s Office Tower, Beijing (constructed)
Guang Han Tang Architectural Design, Beijing (unrealized)
Ya Bar (space design), Beijing (constructed)
Shanghai Pudong Crowne Plaza Hotel (Renovation), Shanghai (constructed)
2003
Songshan Lake Culture and Exhibition Center, Dongguang, Guangzhou (unrealized)
Beijing Rui Cheng Central Plaza, Beijing (unrealized)
Commercial and Cultural Center of Jingdong New District, in collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron, Jinhua, Zhejiang (unrealized)
Landscape Design of Ai Qing Middle School, Jinhua, Zhejiang (constructed)
Beijing Airport Restaurant, Beijing (unrealized)
2002
Shi Guangnan Music Plaza, Jinhua (unrealized)
“European Classic” Studio Sample Room, Beijing (constructed)
Qingdao Kylin Hot Spring Villa, Qingdao, Shandong (constructed)
Anter Automotive Factory, Huaiyin, Jiangsu (constructed)
Landscape Design of Yiwu River Bank, Jinhua, Zhejiang (constructed)
Landscape Design of Ai Qing Cultural Park, Jinhua, Zhejiang (constructed)
Ai Qing Memorial, Jinhua, Zhejiang (constructed)
Shanghai University of Visual Art, Shanghai (unrealized)
National Stadium, in collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron, Beijing (constructed)
2001
Non-Talking Porch, Beijing (constructed)
Landscape Design Commune by the Great Wall, Beijing (constructed)
Boao Villa, Haikou, Hainan (unrealized)
Bar Jia 55, Beijing (constructed, demolished)
2000
In Between: Installation, SOHO, Beijing (constructed)
Landscape Design of SOHO, Beijing (constructed)
China Art Archives and Warehouse, Caochangdi, Beijing (constructed)
1999
Ai Weiwei Studio, Caochangdi, Beijing (constructed)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
know thyself
neugerriemschneider, Berlin
In Search of Humanity
Kunsthal Rotterdam
Roots
Pilane Sculpture Park
Making Sense
The Design Museum, London
Zodiac
Vito Schnabel Gallery, St. Moritz
Public installation: Ego Vici Mvndvm
Abbazia San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice
2022
La Commedia Umana - Memento Mori
Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice
La Commedia Umana
The Baths of Diocletian, Rome
In Search of Humanity
Albertina Modern, Vienna
The Liberty of Doubt
Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge (catalogue)
2021
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea (MMCA), Seoul
Intertwine. Pequi Tree, Roots and Human Figures
Serralves Museum, Porto
Rapture
Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon
Kaviar Factory, Lofoten
Marbre, Porcelaine, Lego
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
Trace
Skiball Cultural Center, Los Angeles
2020
Purgatory
Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin
History of Bombs
Imperial War Museum, London
2019
Ai Weiwei: The Mueller Report / Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
Cahiers d'Art Revue, Paris
Ai Weiwei: Bare Life
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, St. Louis
Roots
Neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Lisson Gallery, London
Everything is art. Everything is politics
K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf
Unbroken
The Gardiner Museum, Toronto
Raiz
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Belo Horizonte
2018
Cao / Humanity
UTA Artist Space, Beverly Hills
Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles
Life Cycle
Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles
Raiz Weiwei
OCA, São Paulo
The Activist Artist
Fundación CorpArtes, Santiago
Fan-Tan
Mucem, Marseille
Laundromat
Garage Gallery, Fire Station, Doha
2017
Inoculation
Fundación PROA, Buenos Aires;
Corpartes, Santiago;
OCA, São Paulo
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
Public Art Fund, New York
Ai Weiwei. D'ailleurs c'est toujours les autres
Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne
On Porcelain
Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul
Massimo de Carlo, Milan
Trace at Hirshhorn
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
Maybe, Maybe Not
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads
Bayfront Gardens, The Ringling, Sarasota
The Contemporary Austin
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
Odyssey
Zona Arti Contemporanea, Palermo
Ai Weiwei: Soleil Levant
Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen
#AiWeiwei
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago (catalogue)
Mountains and Seas
Château La Coste, Le Puy Ste Réparade
Law of the Journey
National Gallery, Prague
Tyre
Galerie Forsblom, Stockholm
Natural State
Frederik Meijers Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids
2016
Ai Weiwei: Laundromat
Jeffrey Deitch, New York
Roots and Branches
Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Roots and Branches
Lisson Gallery, New York
Ai Weiwei: Around Ai Weiwei - Photographs 1983–2016
Camera, Torino
Ai Weiwei. Libero
Palazzo Strozzi, Florence (catalogue)
#SafePassage
Foam, Amsterdam
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold Series
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, travelled to:
Tucson Museum of Art;
Arken Museum of Modern Art, Skovvej
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Bronze Series
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, travelled to:
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh;
The Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, Boston;
National Gallery in Prague, Prague;
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento
translocation - transformation
21er Haus, Vienna
Ai Weiwei at Cycladic
The Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens
2015
Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, travelled to:
The Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh, 2016
Helsinki Art Museum
Royal Academy, London (catalogue)
Forever in the City
Sculpture in the City, London
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Bronze Series
Alder Planetarium Chicago, travelled to:
The Tuileries Garden at the Louvre, Paris;
The National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole;
CAC – Contemporary Art Center of Malaga
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold Series
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, travelled to:
Phoenix Art Museum;
Portland Art Museum;
Palm Springs Museum of Art
2014
Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, New York
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Bronze Series
Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold Series
Palm Springs Museum of Art, travelled to:
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire;
The Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas;
The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow
According to What?
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Evidence
Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (catalouge)
Lisson Gallery, London
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz
Alcatraz Island, San Francisco
New York Photographs 1983–1993
The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver
On the Table
La Virreina, Barcelona
2013
Ordos
Galleria Continua - Le Moulin, Boissy-le-Chatel
Disposition
55th Venice Biennale, Collateral Event, Zuecca Project Space, Venice
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Bronze Series
Cleveland Museum of Art, travelled to:
Perez Art Museum, Miami;
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold Series
The Long House Reserve, East Hampton
Baby Formula
Michael Janssen Gallery, Singapore
According to What?
Indianapolis Museum of Art,, travelled to:
Perez Art Museum, Miami;
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Resistance and Tradition
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Seville
Interlacing
São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound
2012
Entrelacs
Jeu de Paume, Paris
Museum de Pont, Tilburg
Interlacing
Kistefos-Museet, Jevnaker
Magazin 3, Stockholm Konsthall
Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Bronze Series
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington, travelled to:
Ukrainian Biennale of Modern Art Kyiv;
Hermann Park, Houston;
Taipei Fine Arts Museum;
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold Series
The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, travelled to:
Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal
Lisson Gallery, Milan
According to What?
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington
2011
Teehaus 2009
Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold Series
Somerset House, London, travelled to:
Pulitzer Fountain Grand Army Plaza, New York
Foto Museum, Winterthur
Lisson Gallery, London
Kunsthaus Bregenz
Dropping the UM (Ceramic Works, 5000 BC-AD 2010)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen
Ai Weiwei in New York: Fotografien 1983–1993
Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin
Ai Weiwei Absent
Taipei Fine Art Museum
2010
Faurschou Gallery, Copenhagen
Cube Light
Misa Shin Gallery, Tokyo
A few works from Ai Weiwei
Alexander Ochs Galleries, Berlin
The unilever Series: Ai Weiwei
Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Gold Series
29th São Paulo Biennale
Hurt Feelings
Christine König Galerie, Vienna
Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne
Dropping the Um: Ceramics 5000 BCE-2010 CE
Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, travelled to:
Arcadia University Gallery, Glenside
Haines Gallery, San Francisco
Barely Something
Museum DKM and Stiftung DKM, Duisburg
2009
With Milk_find something everybody can use
Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona
World Map
Faurschou Gallery, Beijing
So Sorry
Haus der Kunst, Munich
According to What?
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Ways Beyond Art
Ivory Press Space, Madrid
Four Movements
Philips de Pury, London
New York Photographs 1983–1993
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
2008
Albion Gallery, London
Hyundai Gallery, Seoul
Under Construction
Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Campbelltown
Arts Center, Sydney
Illumination
Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Go China: Ai Weiwei
Groningen Museum
2007
Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne
Traveling Landscape
Aedes Land, Berlin
2006
Fragments
Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing
2004
Kunsthalle Bern
Caermersklooster - Provinciaal Cenrtrum voor Kunst en Cultuur, Ghent
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
2003
Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne
1988
Old Shoes - Safe Sex
Art Waves Gallery, New York
1982
Asian Foundation, San Francisco
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
I Follow the Sun
Artipelag, Gustavsberg
2023
Forms
Gagosian / Jeffrey Deitch at Miami Design District, Miami
Zeit
Kunsthaus Zürich
Artists’ Buttons
Loewe Store, London
#nichtmuedewerden: Felix Nussbaum und künstlerischer Widerstand heute
Museumsquartier Osnabrück
Artists’ Buttons
Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge
Status Report
Kunstraum Potsdam | Waschhaus
Underneath Everything: Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics
Des Moines Art Center
Trace – Formations of Likeness. Photography and Video from The Walther Collection
Haus der Kunst, Munich
States of Violence
The Bacon Factory, London
Why Are You Creative?
Stadtmuseum Simeonstift Trier
Distant Voices
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2022
From Here, For Now
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Air
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City
Forest: Wake This Ground
Arnolfini, Bristol
Sky to the East, Sky to the West
Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg
At The End Of The Rainbow
Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj
Beyond Condex: Living Archives
Center for Book Arts, New York
A Century of the Artist´s Studio: 1920–2020
Whitechapel Gallery, London
neugerriemschneider, Berlin
2021
Legacies of Exchange: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation
Resnick Pavilion, LACMA, Los Angeles
Lovely Creatures
Ludwig Forum, Aachen
Helga de Alvear Collection
Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres
Glasstress Boca Raton 2021
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton (catalogue)
Truc à faire
Galleria Continua, Paris
2020
Inaugural Installations: Kinder Building
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Curators' selection. Summer Exhibition 2020
Royal Academy, London
Artists for New York
Hauser & Wirth, New York
When Home Won't Let You Stay: Art and Migration
Minneapolis Institute of Art (catalogue)
There Is Another Way of Looking at Things
Schauwerk Sindelfingen
Sight Seeing. Die Welt als Attraktion
Kunsthalle Emden
Facing the Collector. The Sigg Collection of Contemporary Art from China
Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin
2019
FLAG – objekt, ikon, symbol
Randers Kunstmuseum
Der Funke Gottes! Die neuen Schatz + Wunderkammer im Bamberger Diözesanmuseum
Diözesanmuseum Bamberg
TEXT ME
white trash contemporary, Hamburg
CHINESE WHISPERS: Recent Art from the Sigg Collection
MAK, Vienna
2018
Face to Face
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin
LOOK! LISTEN! Art is in the churches
Hauptkirche St. Katharinen, Hamburg
2050, A Brief History of the Future
National Taiwan Museum of Art, Taichung
21st Biennale of Sydney
Various locations, Sydney
Hope is Strong
Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
Zum Anbeißen: Früchte in der Kunst - Aus der Sammlung Rainer Wild
Museum der Brotkultur, Ulm
Why are you creative?
Museum für Kommunikation, Berlin
2017
Dangerous Art
Haifa Museum of Art
ISelf Collection: The Upset Bucket
Whitechapel Gallery, London (catalogue)
Stage of Being
Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar (catalogue)
Amsterdam Light Festival
Extra Bodies – The Use of the «Other Body» in Contemporary Art
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich
Age of Terror: Art Since 9/11
Imperial War Museum, London
How To Say It The Way It Is!
Rua Red, Dublin
Everything at Once
Lisson Gallery and The Vinyl Factory at The Store Studios, 180 The Strand, London
Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Reenacting history_ Collective Actions and Everyday Gestures
MMCA, Gwacheon
Der Baum als Kunstwerk
Wälderhaus, Hamburg
Recent Acquisitions
Faurschou Foundation, Copenhagen
Yokohama Triennale 2017 – Islands, Constellations & Galapagos
Various venues, Yokohama
Wären Fluss und Meere Tinte
Christine König Galerie, Vienna
Red-Hot and Newly Acquired: Recent Additions to the Collection
Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro
Fragile State
Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev
Hansel & Gretel: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Ai Weiwei
Park Avenue Armory, New York
Chinese Summer
Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo
Luther und die Avantgarde
Altes Gefängnis, Wittenberg
Glasstress 2017
Palazzo Franchetti San Marco, Fondazione Berengo, Venice
And what, for example, am I now seeing?
Galleria Continua, Les Moulins
Roland Flexner - Ai Weiwei
Massimo de Carlo, Hong Kong
Kneaded Knowledge - The Language of Ceramics
National Gallery, Prague
2016
Primary structures and speculative forms
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Kneaded Knowledge - The Language of Ceramics
Kunsthaus Graz
Invisible Threads: Technology and its Discontent
NYUAD Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi
Post Resettlement: Ai Weiwei/Eid Htaleen
Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin
Holiday – Summer Group Show
IBID Projects, London
Landscapes After Ruskin: Redefining The Sublime
Hall Art Foundation, Reading
Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh
Art From Elsewhere – International Contemporary Art from UK Galleries
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol & Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
Vitaminbombe. Früchtebilder von Picasso bis Warhol
Kunsthalle Emden
Black Chamber
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka
Megacities Asia
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Towards A Larger World
Moderna Museet Malmö
Daily Formalism
BANK – MABSOCIETY, Shanghai
Nervous Systems, Quantified Life and the Social Question
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
CERAMIX, Art et Céramique de Rodin à Schütte
Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres
CERAMIX, Art et Céramique de Rodin à Schütte
La Maison Rouge, Paris
Chinese Whispers. Recent Art from the Sigg & M + Sigg Collections
Kunstmuseum Bern
East Asian Video Frames: Shades of Urbanization
Pori Art Museum
2015
A New Dynasty - Created in China
ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum
Sculpture in the City 2015
Sculpture in the City, London
Mix: Winter
Lawrence Alkin Gallery, London
The Road Not Taken
Misa Shin Gallery, Tokyo
Temporary Boundary
Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris
Reife Früchte – junges Gemüse
Kurpfälzisches Museum der Stadt Heidelberg
After Eden - Photography from The Walther Collection
La Maison Rouge, Paris
Ceramix – Ceramic art from Gauguin to Schütte
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, travelled to:
La Maison Rouge, Paris, 2016;
Cité de la céramique, Sèvres, 2016
Risk
Turner Contemporary, Margate
Follia Continua! 25 Years of Galleria Continua
Le Centquatre, Paris
Brief History of the Future
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Don´t Follow The Wind
Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
6. Fotofestival Mannheim-Ludwigshafen-Heidelberg
Raum für Fotografie, Mannheim
Íntimos extraños: la política como celbridad, la celebridad como política
Centro Cultural Matucana 100, Santiago
China – A Summer Show 2015
Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong
The M+ Sigg Collection: Chinese art from the 1970s to now
The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
When we share more than ever
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
Art from Elsewhere
MIMA, Middlesborough
28 Chinese
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, travelled to:
San Antonio Museum of Art
To Camera
Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
ArtZuid 2015
Foundation Art Zuid, Amsterdam
The Order of Things – Photography from The Walther Collection
The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm
Go-East – The Gene & Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Hamber Hipster Handy: Im Bann des Mobiltelefons
Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt
Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence
Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge, Geneva
Andy Warhol sul comò
Museo d´Arte Contemporanea di Villa Groce, Genoa
Cannibalism? On Appropriation In Art
National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
Rare Earth
Augarten Contemporary, Vienna
SELF: Portraits of Artists in Their Absence
National Academy Museum, New York
Beyond G(l)aze
KODE, Bergen
2014
I + I = I: When Collections Collide
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal
Grip friheten! Take Liberty!
The Museum of Contemporary Art Oslo
KUB Sammlungsschaufenster-Neuerwerbungen von Ai Weiwei bis Zobernig
Kunsthaus Bregenz
Genius Loci – Spirit of Place
14th Venice Biennale of Architecture, Venice
Trace: Performance and its Documents
Queenslands Art Gallery, Brisbane
Beyond and Between
Leeum Samsung Museum, Seoul
All The Best Artists Are My Friends (Part 1)
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City
Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950
Kunsthaus Graz
Ceramix: Ceramic art from Gauguin to Schütte
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
2013
When Now Is Minimal: The Unknown Side of the Sammlung Goetz
Mueseion, Bolzano
German Pavillon, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice
China China
Punchuk Art Centre, Kiev
Taiping Tianguo: A History of Possible Encounters. Ai Weiwei, Frog King Kwok, Tehching Hsieh, and Martin Wong in New York
NUS Museum, Singapore
SALT Beyonglu, Istanbul
More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2012
Arsenale 2012
Ukrainian Biennale of Contemporary Art, Kiev
More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness
Site Santa Fe
The Art of Deceleration: Motion and Rest in Art from Caspar David Friedrich to Ai Weiwei
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
No Borders
Arnolfini, Bristol
Lifelike
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, travelled to:
New Orleans Museum of Art
Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2011
The Magic of Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art
GI Holtegaard, Holte
I Promise to Love You
Kunsthal Rotterdam
Staging Action: Performance in Photography Since 1960
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Die Letzte Freiheit: Von den Pionieren der Land-Art der 1960er Jahre bis zur Natur im Cyberspace
Ludwig Museum im Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz
MMK 1991–2011: 20 Jahre Gegenwart
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main
Vermessung der Welt: Heterotopien und Wissensräume in der Kunst
Kunsthaus Graz
Shanshui
Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne
Prospect 2011
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Staging Action: Performance in Photography Since 1960
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Taking a Stance: 8 Critical Attitudes in Chinese and Durch Architecture and Design
Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam
2010
29th São Paulo Biennial
12th Venice Biennale of Architecture
Passages: Travels in Hyperspace
LABoral Centro de Arte y Creacion Industrial, Gijon
The Big Bang
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney
Une idée, une Forme, un Être-Poesie/ Politique du corporel
Migros Museum, Zurich
The Flower of May
Gwangju Museum of Art and Kunsthalle Gwangju
Taking a Stance: 8 Critical Attitudes in Chinese and Dutch Architecture and Design
Today Art Museum, Beijing, travelled to:
OCAT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen;
Durch Culture Center, Shanghai
Regionale 10
Liezen
Presidio Habitats
Presidio, San Francisco
The Problem of Asia
Chalk Horse, Sydney
Marcel Duchamp and the Forestay Waterfall
Davel 14, Cully
Lost and Found
neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Rem(a)inders
Galleria Continua, Beijing
Acconci Studio + Ai Weiwei: A Collaborative Project
Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong
Until Now: Collecting the New (1960–2010)
Target Gallery, Minneapolis
Taking a Stance, 8 Critical Attitudes in Chinese and Dutch Architecture and Design
Dutch Culture Center, Shanghai Expo, travelled to:
National Art Museum of China, Beijing
Radical Conceptual
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main
Contemplating the Void
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Other Than Beauty
Friedman Benda Gallery, New York
2009
Beg, Borrow and Steal
Rubell Family Collection, Miami
Fascination with the Foreign: China - Japan - Europe
The Hetjens Museum, Dusseldorf
Garbage
After Gallery, projectroom, Moscow
Attitude
Shit-art Center, Zhengzhou
Pete and Repeat – the works from the Zabludowicz Collection
176, London
Void of Memory
Kimusa of Platform 2009, Seoul
Fairytale
Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herliya
I want to talk to you
T.art Center, Beijing
The Big World: Recent Art from China
Chicago Cultural Center
United Technologies
Lismore Castle
The Making of Art
Kunsthalle Schirn, Frankfurt/Main
Action – Camera: Beijing Performance Photography
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver
Summer Group Show
Friedman Benda Gallery, New York
2008
Earthquake
Art Channel, Beijing
China: Construction / Deconstruction – Chinese Contemporary Art
Museu de Arte de São Paolo
Out there: Architecture Beyond Building
Biennale Arcitecture, 11th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice
Liverpool Biennial International 08: Made Up
Tate Liverpool
Super Fengshui: UCCA Site Commissions
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
Reconstruction # 3. The Artists Playground
Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire
China Power Station: Part III
Musee d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg City
Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary
Museum of Arts and Design, New York
Hypallage –The Post-Modern Mode of Contemporary Chinese Art
OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen
Half-Life of a Dream – Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Selections from the Hara Museum's Permanent Collection
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
China. The City exp(l)osed
Institut Francais d'Architecture & du Patrimoine, Paris
Map Games: Dynamic of change
Today Art Museum, Beijing, travelled to:
Center for Contemporary Arts (CAOS), Terni, 2009
China Gold – Chinese Contemporary Art
Musée Maillol, Paris
Interval of Silence
Red Star Gallery, Beijing
Body Media
Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
Delirious Beijing
PKM Gallery, Beijing
Community of Tastes
Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
New Vista – The Phenomenon of Post-Tradition in Contemporary Art
White Space Gallery, Beijing
Body Media
Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing
Red Aside: Chinese Contemporary Art of the Sigg Collection
Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona
The Real Thing. Contemporary Art from China
Institut Valencia d'Art Modern (IVAM), Valencia
2007
A Vista of Perspectives
Sixth Shenzhen Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal
Origin Point: Star Star Group. Retrospective Exhibition
Today Art Museum, Beijing
EI – Entity Identity – Beijing Series. Western Concepts – Chinese Drafts
Stedelijk Museums' Hertogenbosch, MB 's Hertogenbosch
Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals Cisneros Collection
CIFO – Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami
Inspired by China – Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions
Museum of Fort Lauderdale
China Now
Cobra Museum, Amsterdam
Get It Louder
SOHO Shangdu, Beijing
Something New Pussycat
Klara Wallner Galerie, Berlin
Energies – Synergy
Foundation De 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg
Chinese Video: Chord Changes in the Megalopolis
Morono Kiang Gallery, Los Angeles
documenta 12, Kassel
Contemporary Art Exhibitions of Kogo Art Space
Kogo Art Space, Hangzhou
Metamorphosis: The Generation of Transformation in Chinese Contemporary Art
Tampere Art Museum
Thermocline of Art. New Asian Waves
ZKM - Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
Art from China – Collection Uli Sigg
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro
China Welcomes you... Desires, Struggles, New Identities
Kunsthaus Graz
The Year of the Golden Pig – Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection
Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork University College, Cork
Money
Beijing Today Gallery, Beijing
Forged Realities
Universal Studios, Beijing
The Real Thing: Contemporary Art from China
Tate Liverpool
We are the future
2nd Moskow Biennial of Contemporary Art, Art Centre Winzavod
Branded and on Display
Ulrich Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Wichita, travelled to:
Kannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign;
Salt Lake City Art Center, travelled to:
Scottdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 2008;
Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, 2008
A Continuous Dialogue
Galleria Continua, San Gimignano
What about sculpture?
Chambers Fine Art, New York
2006
Art in Motion – Chinese Contemporary Art meets BMW Art Cars
Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai
This Is Not For You – Sculptural Discourses
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna
Detours. Tactical Approaches to Urbanization in China
Eric Arthur Gallery, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto
China now. Faszination einer Weltveränderung
Sammlung Essl, Kunst der Gegenwart, Klosterneubur
Mahjong – Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg
Hamburger Kunsthalle, travelled to:
Kunstmuseum Bern;
Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, 2008;
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, 2008;
The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, 2008
MoCA Envisage / Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity
Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai
The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Zones of Contact
15th Biennial of Sydney
Territorial. Ai Weiwei und Serge Spitzer
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Main
Altered, Stitched and Gathered
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York
China Power Station I
Serpentine Gallery, London
Herzog & de Meuron. No 250. Eine Ausstellung
Haus der Kunst, Munich
Fill in the Blanks
China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing
Busan Biennial 2006
Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan
Cityscapes 'Beijing Welcomes You'. Ein Stadtmodell von Lu Hao sowie Fotografien von Ai Weiwei
Kunsthaus Hamburg
A Continuous Dialogue
Galleria Continua, Beijing
Inspired by China – Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem
China Contemporary. Architecture, Art and Visual Culture
Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam
Black and Blue
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Antique Modernity – Breaking Traditions
Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
2006 Beaufort Outside
Museum of Modern Art, Oostende
2005
The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial
Guangdong Museum of Art,
Misleading Trails
Altgeld Gallery, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, travelled to:
University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton;
Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem;
Fine Arts Gallery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville;
Boyden Gallery, St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, 2005;
Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, 2005;
Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, 2005
Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US
Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis Otis College of Art & Design, Los Angeles, travelled to:
University Art Gallery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla;
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe;
Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, 2006
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China
Seattle Art Museum, travelled to:
Victoria and Albert Museum, London;
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, 2006;
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2006;
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2006
Xianfeng! Beeldhouwkunst von de Chinese avant-garde / Chinese Avant-Garde Sculpture
Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveninge
Convergence at E116'/N40
Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing
A Strange Heaven – Contemporary Chinese Photography
Tennis Palace Art Museum, Helsinki
1st Monpellier Biennial of Chinese Contemporary Art
Cina. Prospettive d'Arte Contemporanea / China: As Seen by Contemporary Chinese Artists
Provincia di Milano, Spazio Oberdan, Milan
Herzog & de Meuron. An Exhibition
Tate Modern, London
No 250. An Exhibition. Beauty and Waste in the Architecture of Herzog & de Meuron
Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam
2004
Silknet – Emerging Chinese Artists
Galerie Urs Meile Beijing-Lucerne
Persona3
China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing
Le Printemps de Chine
CRAC ALSAC, Altkirch
Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US
David Winton Bell Gallery, List Art Center Brown University, Providence, travelled to:
Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg;
Jean Paul Slusser Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Piss Off
Museum of New Art, Pontiac
The 9th International Architecture Exhibition
The Venice Biennial
Misleading Trails
China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing
On the Edge – Contemporary Chinese Photography & Video
Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
Chinese Object: Dreams & Obsessions
Salvatore Ferragamo Gallery, New York
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China
Museum of Contemporary Art Printemps Chicago and The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, travelled to:
International Center of Photography, New York
Modern Style in East Asia
Beijing Tokyo Art Projects
Herzog & de Meuron. No 250. Eine Ausstellung
Schaulager, Basel
2003
New Zone – Chinese Art
Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
A Strange Heaven. Contemporary Chinese Photography
Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
Junction. Chinese Contemporary Architecture of Art
Lianyang Architecture Art Museum, Shanghai
2002
Cement – Marginal Space in Contemporary Art
Chambers Fine Art, New York
China – Tradition und Moderne
Museum Ludwig Galerie Oberhausen
Art from a Changing World
Ludwig Forum for International Art, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Hoevikodden
1st Guangzhou Triennale 2002
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
2001
Take Part II
Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne, Lucerne
Tu Mu. Young Chinese Architecture
Aedes Galerie, Berlin
Take Part I
Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne, Lucerne
2000
Fuck off
East Link Gallery, Shanghai
Portraits, Figures, Couples and Groups
Biz Art, Shanghai
Our Chinese Friends
ACC Galerie and Galerie der Bauhaus-Universität (in collaboration with Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne), Weimar
1999
Innovations Part I
China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing
d'Apertutto
La Biennale di Venezia, 48. Esposizione Internationale d'Arte, Venice
Modern China Art Foundation Collection
Caermersklooster - Provinciaal Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur, Ghent
Concepts, Colors and Passions
China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing
1998
Double Kitsch: Painters from China
Max Protetch, New York
1997
A Point of Contact. Korean, Chinese, Japanese Contemporary Art
Daegu Art & Culture Hall
1996
Begegnung mit China
Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen
1995
Configura 2 - Dialog der Kulturen
Angermuseum, Galerie am Fischmarkt, Erfurt
Change-Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition
Goteborg Museum
1993
Chinese Contemporary Art – The Stars 15 Years
Tokyo Gallery
1989
The Stars: Ten Years
Hanart Gallery, Hongkong, travelled to:
Hanart Gallery, Taipei
1987
The Star at Harvard: Chinese Dissident Art
Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University, Cambridge
Avant-Garde Chinese Art
Albany University Art Museum, New York
1986
Seven Chinese Artists
Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco
Avant-Garde Chinese Art
Vassar College Gallery, Poughkeepsie
China's New Expression
Municipal Gallery, New York
1980
The second Star Exhibition
National Art Museum of China, Beijing
1979
The first Star Exhibition, outside the National Art Museum of China, Beijing
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Monographie
H. W. Holzwarth, ed., Ai Weiwei, Köln: Taschen, 2016
M. Kataoka, C. Merewether & K. Brougher, Ai Weiwei: According to What?, Munich: Prestel, 2012
H. U. Obrist, K. Smith & B. Fibicher, Ai Weiwei, New York: Phaidon Press, 2009
Other
R.C. Collard, et al., Futuros Abundantes. Abundant Futures, exh. cat., Madrid: TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary / Turner, 2023
D. Buchart, et al., Ai Weiwei: In Search of Humanity, exh. cat., Vienna: Albertina Modern, 2022
A. Weiwei, Ai Weiwei: 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows. A Memoir, New York: Crown, 2021
H. U. Obrist, Ai Weiwei: Wo ist die Revolution?, exh. cat., Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; Munich: Prestel, 2019
N. Baume, D. S. Palmer & K. Stathopulou, Ai Weiwei. Good Fences Make Good Neighbors, New York: Public Art Fund, 2019
J.F. Chougnet, et al., Ai Weiwei. Fan-Tan, exh. cat., The Mucem, Marseille; Paris: Manuella Èditions, 2018
A. Budak, P. Pakesch & E. de Waal, Kneaded Knowledge. The Language of Cermaics, exh. cat., Prague: National Gallery Prague, 2017
A. Galansino, ed., Ai Weiwei: Libero, exh. cat., Palazzo Strozzi, Florence; Milan: Giunti Editore, 2017
N. Egan, L. McQuiston & J. Tancock, #AiWeiwei, exh. cat., Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2017
R. Marhieu, Ai Weiwei, ER Xi, Air de jeux, exh. cat., Paris: le cherche midi, 2016
T. Marlow, et al., Ai Weiwei, exh. cat., London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2015
T. Eller, et al., Ai Weiwei – Evidence, exh. cat., Gropius Bau, Berlin; Munich: Prestel, 2014
U. Stahel & D. Janser, eds., Ai Weiwei – Interlacing, exh. cat., Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur; Gottingen: Steidl, 2011
Y. Dziewior, Ai Weiwei. Art | Architecture, exh. cat., Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz; Köln: Walther König, 2011
C. Klein, Ai Weiwei: Architecture, Cologne: Daab Media, 2010
J. Bingham, et al., Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds, exh. cat., London: Tate, 2010
P. Tinari, et al., Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn, Ceramic Works, 5000 BCE – 2010 CE, exh. cat., Arcadia University Art Gallery, Philadelphia; Beijing: Office for Discourse Engineering, 2010
R. M. Buergel, Ai Weiwei: Barely Something, exh. cat., Duisburg: Museum DKM, 2010
M. Siemons & A. Weiwei, Ai Weiwei: So Sorry, exh. cat., Haus der Kunst, Munich; Munich: Prestel, 2009
H. U. Obrist & E. O. Foster, eds., Ai Weiwei. Ways Beyond Art, Ivorypress: Madrid, 2009
K. Lee, J. Shin, eds., Ai Weiwei, exh. cat., Seoul: Gallery Hyundai, 2008
Videos
Selected Press
The Art Newspaper January 2023
art March 2022
Artnet February 2022
ArtReview January 2022
Frankfurter Rundschau November 2021
The Guardian October 2021
Harper’s Bazaar Germany September 2021
Spike Magazine Summer 2021
ABC June 2021
Connaissance des Arts June 2021
Independent 13 May 2021
Welt am Sonntag May 2019
The New York Times August 2016
Financial Times Weekend September 2015
