Ai Weiwei

Focusing on the recent decade of art and activism by one of the most outspoken artists of our time, this edition provides TASCHEN’s Ai Weiwei monograph with a comprehensive update. Now exploring 40 years of work, the book ranges from the artist’s exile in 80s New York to his latest sculptures, films, and installations championing human rights.

“A comprehensive excursion, complete with abundant illustrations and material, through the life and work of this star artist... A seminal work!”

Born in Beijing in 1957, Ai Weiwei is renowned for making strong aesthetic statements that resonate across today’s geopolitical world. From architecture to sculpture and installations, social media to documentaries, he uses a wide range of media for new ways of artistically examining society and its values. He is the recipient of the 2015 Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International and the 2012 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the Human Rights Foundation. Ai’s first feature-length documentary Human Flow premiered at the 74th Venice Film Festival in competition. He currently lives and works in Cambridge, Berlin, and Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal. Hans Werner Holzwarth is a book designer and editor specializing in contemporary art and photography. His TASCHEN publications include the Collector’s Editions Jeff Koons, Christopher Wool, Albert Oehlen, Neo Rauch, Ai Weiwei, Beatriz Milhazes, Julian Schnabel, Georg Baselitz, Glenn Brown, the David Hockney SUMO A Bigger Book, as well as monographs such as the XXL-sized Jean-Michel Basquiat.