Artist profile: AI Weiwei

Ai weiwei is a Chinese artist who was born on August 28, 1957 in Beijing, China. His father was the famous Chinese poet Ai Qing, and his mother was Gao Ying a stay at home mother. He has a younger sister Ai Xuan. He started his schooling at the Beijing film Academy, then he moved to America and studied first at University of Pennsylvania then at University of California Berkeley.

Some important world events that happened during Ai Weiwei life are the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cultural Revolution of China, the Vietnam war, 9/11, and the Iraq War. One thing that most people would not know about Ai Weiwei is that his father was Ai Qing.

The Mediums that Ai Weiwei uses are Film, sculptures, photography, and architecture. The movement that Ai is most associated with is Excessivism. His most famous works are Sunflower Seeds, Beijing National stadium, and Dropping Han dynasty Urn. The two pieces that I could write about are Dropping the Han dynasty urn, which is him taking pictures of himself dropping an ancient Han urn. I could also write about The Circle of Animal Heads, which is just sculptures of animal heads in a circle.