Ai Weiwei (1957-), Chinese Contemporary Artist and Activist, Living in Berlin since 2015

[DonRocks]

On 5/30/2017 at 3:33 PM, Tweaked said:

Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn  June 28, 2017 thru January 1, 2018

"Ai Weiwei’s monumental installation Trace portrays individuals from around the world whom the artist and various human rights groups consider to be activists, prisoners of conscience, and advocates of free speech. Each of these 176 portraits comprises thousands of plastic LEGO® bricks, assembled by hand and laid out on the floor. The work foregrounds Ai Weiwei’s own experiences of incarceration, interrogation, and surveillance. In 2011, he was detained by the Chinese government for eighty-one days and then prohibited from traveling abroad until 2015."

"Ai Wei Wei's Beijing Studio Destroyed by Chinese Authorities"  by Shannon van Sant on npr.org