Ai Weiwei

A captivating look at the career of Ai Weiwei through more than eighty works.

Featuring seminal sculptures, installations, photographs, LEGO works, and conceptual projects, this richly illustrated book highlights Ai Weiwei’s ongoing engagement with history, cultural heritage, and political freedom.

The catalogue contains original essays that offer a fresh perspective on this influential contemporary artist. Texts by Lee Ambrozy, Thomas Crow, Edouard Derom, Rik Hemmerijckx, Didier Ottinger, John Tancock, and Lieven Van Den Abeele examine the intellectual, artistic, and social dimensions of Ai Weiwei’s work, placing it within both a global contemporary context and a broader historical framework.

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John Tancock is an art historian and coauthor of Ai Weiwei: New York 1983-1993. Chris Dercon is an art historian, curator and museum director. He was born in Lier, Belgium, in 1958. He studied Art History and Theatre Studies at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, and Film Studies at the Vrije Unversiteit in Amsterdam. Chris Dercon has worked as a teacher, critic and journalist. He has been managing cultural institutions since 1988. He began his career as program director of PS1 New York in 1988, and in Rotterdam from 1990 to 1995 he directed the Witte de With (Melly Kunsinstituut), then the Boijmans van Beuningen from 1996 to 2002. From 2003 to 2011, he directed the Haus der Kunst in Munich. From 2011 to 2016, he directed the Tate Modern in London. From 2017 to 2018, he directed the Volksbuhne Theater in Berlin. From 2019 to 2023, he is Chairman of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Grand Palais. Since June 2023, he has been Director of the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain.