Ai Weiwei
Biography
1957 born in Beijing, China
Lives and works in Beijing, China
Downloads
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2015
Ai Weiwei, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
2014
Ai Weiwei, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
On the table. Ai Weiwei, La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona, Spain
Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, Alcatraz, San Francisco, USA
Ai Weiwei - Evidence, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
Ai Weiwei: According to What?, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, USA
2013
Ai Weiwei: According to What?, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, USA; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Miami Art Museum, Miami, USA
Ai Weiwei – Disposition, collateral event of the 55th Venice Biennale, Zuecca Project Space, Giudecca and Chiesa Sant’Antonin, Venice, Italy
Ai Weiwei - Circle Of Animals / Zodiac Heads, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida, USA; Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA; The Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, Texas, USA; Arken Museum of Modern Art, Skovvej, Denmark
Ai Weiwei – Interlacing, MIS – Museu da Imagem e do Som, São Paulo, Brasil
Ai Weiwei – Resistance and Tradition, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain
2012
Rebar – Lucerne, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012, Designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, London, UK
Ai Weiwei: According to What?, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., USA
Ai Weiwei – Interlacing, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France; Kistefos-Museet, Jevnaker, Norway
Perspectives: Ai Weiwei, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., USA
Ai Weiwei, De Pont Museum, Tillburg, Netherlands
Ai Weiwei, Magasin 3, Stockholm, Sweden
2011
Ai Weiwei in New York – Fotografien 1983-1993, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany
Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Ai Weiwei absent / Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Ai Weiwei, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads, Somerset House, London, UK; Pulitzer Fountain, Grand Army
Plaza at Central Park, New York, USA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Ai Weiwei – Interlacing, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; Kunsthaus Graz, Austria
Ai Weiwei. Art / Architecture, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria
2010
The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei, Tate Modern, London, UK
Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
Hurt Feelings, Christine König Galerie, Vienna, Austria
Barely Something, Museum DKM; Stiftung DKM, Duisburg, Germany
Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, USA; Museum of
Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon, USA
2009
With Milk_find something everybody can use, Pavelló Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, Spain
so sorry, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Faurschou Gallery, Beijing, China
Ai Weiwei: According to What?, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Ways Beyond Art, Ivorypress Art+Books, Madrid, Spain
Ai Weiwei – Four Movements, Phillips de Pury, London, UK
Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983-1993, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China
2008
Ai Weiwei, Albion Gallery, London, UK
Ai Weiwei, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
Under Construction, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, Australia
Illumination, Mary Boone Gallery, New York, USA
Ai Weiwei, Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands
2007
Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
Traveling Landscapes, AedesLand, Berlin, Germany
2006
Fragments, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing, China
2004
Kunsthalle Bern, Berne, Switzerland
Caermersklooster - Provinciaal Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur, Gent, Belgium
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA
2003
Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
1988
Old Shoes – Safe Sex, Art Waves Gallery, New York, USA
1982
Asian Foundation, San Francisco, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018
Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World, Museum Guggenheim, Bilbao
2015
Thing Nothing. Art and design in dialogue, Van Abemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
28 Chinese, Asian Art Museum, San Franciso; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, USA
Facts & Figures. 6. Fotofestival Mannheim-Ludwigshafen-Heidelberg, Zephyr der Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, Germany
The Order of Things, The Walther Collection, Neu Ulm, Germany
Il Giardino Incantato, Palazzo Tè, Mantova, Italy
Mármakos, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
When now is minimal, Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany
2014
1 + 1 = 1: When Collections Collide, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada
Grip friheten! Take Liberty!, The Museum of Contemporary Art Oslo, Norway
KUB Sammlungsschaufenster-Neuerwerbungen von Ai Weiwei bis Zobernig, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria
Performance and Imagination. Photography from China 1911 - 2014, Stavanger Art Museum, Stavanger, Norway
Damage Control, Mudam, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Museum Joanneum, Graz, Austria
When now is minimal, Museion, Bolzano, Italy
2013
Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, New York, USA
28 Chinese, Rubell Family Collection / Contemporary Arts Collection, Miami, USA
中 (Middle), Not Vital Foundation, Ardez, Switzerland
St. Moritz Art Masters, St. Moritz, Switzerland
When now is minimal, Neues Museum, Nürnberg, Germany
EMSCHERKUNST.2013, Duisburg, Dinslaken, Oberhausen, Essen, Bottrop, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Back to Earth. Von Picasso bis Ai Weiwei – Die Wiederentdeckung der Keramik in der Kunst, Herbert-Gerisch Stiftung, Neumünster, Germany
Unlimited, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
German Pavillion 2013, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Circles I Kreise, Bamberg, Germany
1.pers.sing, b-05, Montabaur, Germany
A Journal of the Plague Year. Fear, ghosts, rebels. SARS, Leslie and the Hong Kong story, Para Site, Hong Kong
Moving: Norman Foster On Art, Carré d’Art, Musée d’art contemporain, Nîmes, France
Duchamp and / or / in China, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, China
Yes, naturally. How art saves the world, Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Den Haag, Netherlands
China China, The PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine
Freedom!, Kunstpalais, Erlangen, Germany
Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design, MAD – Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA
Of Bridges & Borders, Valparaiso, Chile
2012
Privat, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Beyond the Wall, Castello di Rivoli, Torino, Italy
Art and City, Zurich, Switzerland
Art and Press. Kunst. Wahrheit. Wirklichkeit, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
Art and Press. Kunst. Wahrheit. Wirklichkeit, ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany
Public: Collective Identity: Occupied Space, Contact Photography Festival 2012, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
2011
Mit Feuer und Flamme – Keramik in der Gegenwartskunst, Museum Villa Rot, Burgriden-Rot, Germany
4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia
The Art of Deceleration. Motion and Rest in Art from Caspar David Friedrich to Ai Weiwei, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea
Camulodunum, Inaugural exhibition, Firstsite, Colchester, UK
Shanshui – Poetry Without Sound? Landscape in Chinese Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
The last Freedom – From the Pioneers of Land Art in the 1960s to Nature in Cyberspace, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
I promise to love you, Caldic Collection, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Staging Action: Performance in Photography since 1960, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
2010
Zeitgenössische chinesische Fotografie, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, Germany
Une Idée, une Forme, un Être – Poésie / Politique du corporel, migros museum für gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland
Acconci Studio and Ai Weiwei: A Collaborative Project, Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong, China
29th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Radical Conceptual. Positions from the MMK Collection, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2009
Beg Borrow and Steal, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA
Garbage, AFTERGALLERY, projectroom, Moscow, Russia
Attitude, Shit-Art Center, Zhengzhou, China
Pete and Repeat. Works form the Zabludowicz Collection, Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK
The Making of Art, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
The Big World: Recent Art from China, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, USA
United Technologies, Lismore Castle Arts, Lismore, Ireland
2008
Half-Life of a Dream, Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection, San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
Out There. Architecture Beyond Building, Biennale Architecture, 11th International Architecture
Exhibition, Venice, Italy
5th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK
Super Fengshui: UCCA Site Commissions, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, The University of California, Berkeley
Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA
Map Games: Dynamics of Change, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA
China. The City exp(l)osed, Cité d’Architecture & du Patrimone, Paris, France
Reconstruction # 3. The Artists Playground, Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, UK
Delirious Beijing, PKM Gallery, Beijing, China
Community of Tastes – The Inaugural Exhibition Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Iberia Center for
Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
RED Aside: Chinese Contemporary Art of the Sigg Collection, Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain
The Real Thing. Contemporary Art from China, Institut Valencia d’Art Modern (IVAM), Valencia, Spain
2007
EI – Entity Identity – Beijing Series. Western Concepts – Chinese Drafts, Stedelijk Museum,
s’ Hertogenbosch, MB ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals Cisneros Collection, CIFO – Cisneros Fontanals
Art Foundation, Miami, USA
Inspired by China – Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions, Museum of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, USA
CHINA NOW, Cobra Museum, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Get It Louder, SOHO Shangdu, Beijing, China
Something New Pussycat, Klara Wallner Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Energies – Synergy, Foundation DE 11 LIJNEN, Oudenburg, Belgium
Chinese Video: Chord Chances in the Megalopolis, Morono Kiang Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Mahjong – Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
Documenta XII, Kassel, Germany
Contemporary Art Exhibitions of Kogo Art Space, Kogo Art Space, Hangzhou, China
Metamorphosis: The Generation of Transformation in Chinese Contemporary Art, Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
Thermocline of Art. New Asian Waves, ZKM – Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany
Art from China – Collection Uli Sigg, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
China Welcomes You... Desires, Struggles, New Identities, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria
The Year of the Golden Pig – Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork University College, Cork, Ireland
Money, Beijing Today Gallery, Beijing, China
Forged Realities, UniversalStudios, Beijing, China
The Real Thing: Contemporary Art from China, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Project We are the future, 2nd Moskow Biennial of Contemporary Art, Art Centre Winzavod, Moskow, Russia
Branded and on Display, Kannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign, USA
A Continuous Dialogue, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy
2006
Art in Motion – Chinese Contemporary Art meets BMW Art Cars, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
This Is Not For You – Sculptural Discourses, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Austria
Detours. Tactical Approaches to Urbanization in China, Eric Arthur Gallery, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
CHINA NOW, Sammlung Essl, Kunst der Gegenwart, Klosterneuburg / Vienna, Austria
Mahjong – Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
MoCA Envisage / Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
Zones of Contact, 15th Biennial of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Territorial. Ai Weiwei und Serge Spitzer, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Altered, Stitched and Gathered, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York, USA
China Power Station I, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke
University, Durham; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, USA
Herzog & de Meuron. No 250. Eine Ausstellung, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Busan Biennial 2006, Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, Korea
Misleading Trails, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg; Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; Boyden Gallery, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, USA
Cityscapes ‘Beijing Welcomes You’. Ein Stadtmodell von Lu Hao sowie Fotografien von Ai Weiwei, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
A Continuous Dialogue, Galleria Continua, Beijing, China
Inspired by China – Contemporary Furnituremakers Expolre Chinese Traditions, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA
Altered, Stitched and Gathered, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York, USA
China Power Station I, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, USA
Herzog & de Meuron. No 250. Eine Ausstellung, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Busan Biennial 2006, Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, Korea
Misleading Trails, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg; Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; Boyden Gallery, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, USA
Cityscapes ‘Beijing Welcomes You’. Ein Stadtmodell von Lu Hao sowie Fotografien von Ai Weiwei, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
A Continuous Dialogue, Galleria Continua, Beijing, China
Inspired by China – Contemporary Furnituremakers Expolre Chinese Traditions, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA
China Contemporary. Architecture, Art and Visual Culture, Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Black and Blue, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA
Antique Modernity – Breaking Traditions, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, USA
2006 Beaufort Outside, Museum of Modern Art, Oostende, Belgium
China zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft / Between Past and Future – New Photography and Video from China, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, USA
2005
The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Misleading Trails, Fine Arts Gallery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville; Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem; University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton; Altgeld Gallery, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, USA
Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, USA
Convergence at E116’ / N40’, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, China
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
A Strange Heaven – Contemporary Chinese Photography, Tennis Palace Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Mahjong – Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Kunstmuseum Bern, Berne, Switzerland
1st Monpellier Biennial of Chinese Contemporary Art, Montpellier, France
Cina. Prospettive d’Arte Contemporanea / China: As Seen by Contemporary Chinese Artists, Provincia di Milano, Spazio Oberdan, Milan, Italy
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA
Herzog & de Meuron. An Exhibition, Tate Modern, London, UK
Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, University Art Gallery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA
No 250. An Exhibition. Beauty and Waste in the Architecture of Herzog & de Meuron, Netherlands
Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2004
Silknet – Emerging Chinese Artists, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
Persona3, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China
Le Printemps de Chine, CRAC ALSAC, Altkirch, France
Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, David Winton Bell Gallery, List Art
Center Brown University, Providence, USA
Piss Off, Museum of New Art, Pontiac, USA
The 9th International Architecture Exhibition, The Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
Misleading Trails, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China
Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, USA; John Paul Slusser Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
On the Edge – Contemporary Chinese Photography & Video, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, USA
Chinese Object: Dreams & Obsessions, Salvatore Ferragamo Gallery, New York, USA
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, Chicago; ICP International
Center of Photography, New York, USA
Modern Style in East Asia, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing, China
Herzog & de Meuron. No 250. Eine Ausstellung, Schaulager, Basel, Switzerland
2003
New Zone – Chinese Art, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
A Strange Heaven. Contemporary Chinese Photography, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
Junction. Chinese Contemporary Architecture of Art, Lianyang Architecture Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Cement – Marginal Space in Contemporary Art, Chamber Fine Arts, New York, USA
2002
China – Tradition und Moderne, Museum Ludwig Galerie Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany
Art from a Changing World, Ludwig Forum for International Art, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Hoevikodden, Norway
1st Guangzhou Triennale 2002, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2001
TAKE PART II, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
TU MU. Young Chinese Architecture, Aedes Galerie, Berlin, Germany
TAKE PART I, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
2000
Fuck off, EastLink Gallery, Shanghai, China
Portraits, Figures, Couples and Groups, BizArt, Shanghai, China
Our Chinese Friends, ACC Galerie and Galerie der Bauhaus-Universität (in collaboration with Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne), Weimar, Germany
1999
Innovations Part I, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China
d’APERTutto, La Biennale di Venezia, 48. Esposizione Internationale d’Arte, Venice, Italy
Modern China Art Foundation Collection, Caermersklooster – Provinciaal Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur, Gent, Belgium
Concepts, Colors and Passions, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China
1998
Double Kitsch: Painters from China, Max Protetch, New York, USA
1997
A Point of Contact. Korean, Chinese, Japanese Contemporary Art, Daegu Art & Culture Hall, Daegu, Korea
1996
Begegnung mit China, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany
1995
Configura 2 – Dialog der Kulturen, Angermuseum, Galerie am Fischmarkt, Erfurt, Germany
Change-Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Goteborg Museum, Goteborg, Sweden
1993
Chinese Contemporary Art – The Stars 15 Years, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1989
The Stars: Ten Years, Hanart Gallery, Hongkong
The Stars: Ten Years, Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1987
The Star at Harvard: Chinese Dissident Art, Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
1986
China’s New Expression, Municipal Gallery, New York, USA
Avant-Garde Chinese Art, Albany University Art Museum, New York, USA
1980
The second Star Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1979
The first Star Exhibition, outside the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China