Ai Weiwei, Proudly Supot!

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Ai Weiwei (born 1957 Beijing) is a leading Chinese artist, curator,
architectural designer, cultural and social commentator and activist. Beginning
with the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Ai has emerged as one of China's most
influential bloggers and social activists; he is known for his tongue-in-cheek
and sometimes vulgar social commentary, and has had frequent run-ins with
Chinese authorities. He was particularly focused at exposing an alleged
corruption scandal in the construction of Sichuan schools that collapsed during
the earthquake. Born in Beijing, Ai Weiwei’s father was Chinese poet Ai
Qing, who was denounced during the Cultural Revolution and sent off to a labour
camp in Xinjiang with his wife, Gao Ying. Ai Weiwei also spent five years there.
Ai Weiwei is married to artist Lu Qing. In 1978 he enrolled in the Beijing
Film Academy and was one of the founders of the early avant garde art group the
"Stars", together with Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Zhong
Acheng and Qu Leilei. In China the group subsequently disbanded in 1983. Ai
Weiwei continued to participate in regular Stars group shows, The Stars: Ten
Years, 1989 (Hanart Gallery, Hong-Hong and Taipei), and a retrospective
exhibition in Beijing in 2007: Origin Point (Today Art Museum, Beijing).
From 1981 to 1993, he lived in the United States, mostly in New York, doing
performance art and creating conceptual art by altering readymade objects. In
New York he studied at Parsons School of Design. In 1987 he took part in the
founding of The Chinese United Overseas Artists Association