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Ai Weiwei’s dissident art

The Chinese dissident artist is featured in two installations at the Hirshhorn and the Sackler, in advance of a major retrospective to open in October.

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Ai Weiwei, "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn," 1995/2009.

Courtesy of Ai Weiwei /

Ai Weiwei, 'New York Photographs,' 1983-1993.

Ai Weiwei, "New York Photographs," 1983-1993.

Courtesy of Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei (China, b. 1957). 'Fragments,' 2005. Iron wood (tieli), tables, chairs, parts of beams and pillars from dismantled temples of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Writes critic Anne Midgette: “The piece feels benevolent, yet it is built of inarticulate fragments, stunted in their gestures, giving it a sense of folkloric primitivism that nicely evokes a touristic nostalgia while deliberately failing to recapture any of the wood’s former elegance.”

Ai Weiwei (China, b. 1957). "Fragments," 2005. Iron wood (tieli), tables, chairs, parts of beams and pillars from dismantled temples of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Writes critic Anne Midgette: “The piece feels benevolent, yet it is built of inarticulate fragments, stunted in their gestures, giving it a sense of folkloric primitivism that nicely evokes a touristic nostalgia while deliberately failing to recapture any of the wood’s former elegance.”

Courtesy of the Sigg Collection

Ai Weiwei, Provisional Landscape, 2002-08. Installation view with Ai Weiwei at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2009.

Ai Weiwei, Provisional Landscape, 2002-08. Installation view with Ai Weiwei at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2009.

Courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

Ai Weiwei, 'Kippe,' 2006. Writes Midgette: “Ai’s objects may be important, but the creative act is distanced from its physical realization: He comes up with the idea and lets it play itself out.”

Ai Weiwei, "Kippe," 2006. Writes Midgette: “Ai’s objects may be important, but the creative act is distanced from its physical realization: He comes up with the idea and lets it play itself out.”

Courtesy of Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, 'Colored Vases,' 2007-2010.

Ai Weiwei, "Colored Vases," 2007-2010.

Courtesy of Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, 'Cube Light,' 2008. The Hirshhorn acquired this work in April.

Ai Weiwei, "Cube Light," 2008. The Hirshhorn acquired this work in April.

Courtesy of Galerie Urs Meile

Ai Weiwei, 'Map of China,' 2008. Writes Midgette: “In China, the fact that the questions are being asked, and the pot is being stirred, has an urgency not much protest art has in this country — something underlined by Ai’s detention.”

Ai Weiwei, "Map of China," 2008. Writes Midgette: “In China, the fact that the questions are being asked, and the pot is being stirred, has an urgency not much protest art has in this country — something underlined by Ai’s detention.”

Courtesy of Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, 'Grapes,' 2010.

Ai Weiwei, "Grapes," 2010.

Courtesy of Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, 'Table with Two Legs on the Wall,' 2008.

Ai Weiwei, "Table with Two Legs on the Wall," 2008.

Courtesy of Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, 'Moon Chest,' 2008. Installation view at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2009.

Ai Weiwei, "Moon Chest," 2008. Installation view at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2009.

Watanabe Osamu. Courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

Ai Weiwei, 'Snake Ceiling,' 2009. Installation view at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2009.

Ai Weiwei, "Snake Ceiling," 2009. Installation view at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2009.

Watanabe Osamu. Courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

Ai Weiwei, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,' 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Wrote Midgette: “While the 12 bronze heads guarding the Hirshhorn’s central fountain are massive physical objects, their physicality is almost a rebuff — a rebuff only strengthened by how the Hirshhorn has positioned them: facing out from the fountain so that you have to walk the full perimeter of the courtyard to see them all and a look across the fountain yields only the backs of heads.”

Ai Weiwei, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Wrote Midgette: “While the 12 bronze heads guarding the Hirshhorn’s central fountain are massive physical objects, their physicality is almost a rebuff — a rebuff only strengthened by how the Hirshhorn has positioned them: facing out from the fountain so that you have to walk the full perimeter of the courtyard to see them all and a look across the fountain yields only the backs of heads.”

Courtesy of AW Asia. Photo: Cathy Carver

Ai Weiwei, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,' 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Midgette described the animal heads as “something out of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.”

Ai Weiwei, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Midgette described the animal heads as “something out of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.”

Courtesy of AW Asia. Photo: Cathy Carver

Ai Weiwei, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,' 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012.

Ai Weiwei, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012.

Courtesy of AW Asia. Photo: Cathy Carver

Ai Weiwei, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,' 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012.

Ai Weiwei, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012.

Courtesy of AW Asia. Photo: Cathy Carver

Ai Weiwei, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,' 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Midgette says the ram is the most aristocratic of all of the sculptures.

Ai Weiwei, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Midgette says the ram is the most aristocratic of all of the sculptures.

Courtesy of AW Asia. Photo: Cathy Carver

Ai Weiwei, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,' 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Midgette characterized the horse as having “tousled, Little Lord Fauntleroy hair and anxious eyes like a desperate housewife.”

Ai Weiwei, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012. Midgette characterized the horse as having “tousled, Little Lord Fauntleroy hair and anxious eyes like a desperate housewife.”

Courtesy of AW Asia. Photo: Cathy Carver

Ai Weiwei, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads,' 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012.

Ai Weiwei, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," 2010. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 2012.

Courtesy of AW Asia. Photo: Cathy Carver

In this Nov. 16, 2011, photo, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei opens his jacket to reveal a shirt bearing his portrait as he walks into the Beijing Local Taxation Bureau. Ai was issued a $2.4 million tax bill by the Chinese government that he said was a trumped-up effort to silence him.

In this Nov. 16, 2011, photo, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei opens his jacket to reveal a shirt bearing his portrait as he walks into the Beijing Local Taxation Bureau. Ai was issued a $2.4 million tax bill by the Chinese government that he said was a trumped-up effort to silence him.

Andy Wong / AP

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