Wyatt Mason penned an article about Ai Weiwei in the December 2011 issue of GQ. The article gives a lot of background on the artist, including chronicling his time spent living in New York, in the 1980’s.  The article also goes into detail about Ai’s constant struggle with the PRC. It’s definitely worth the read. Check it out over here.

[Photo by: Ai Weiwei, via GQ]

What an incredible image this is. Created by China’s Ai Weiwei and titled Forever Bicycle, it is an impressive feat. Now if only he could attend his own show. This piece is part of the larger show fittingly called Absent. After his imprisonment, the Chinese government is keeping close tabs on the most prominent artist the country has produced in the recent past and is not allowing him to attend. Let’s just hope he continues to stay a free man (of sorts) and another unjust imprisonment is not in his future.

Vernissage TV gets a full look at the current Ai Weiwei solo exhibition, Art / Architecture, currently on view at Kunsthaus Bregenz. Included is an interview with museum director Yilmaz Dziewior.

Alison Klayman, director of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, has released a statement on the occasion of the artist’s release.

Friends and fans,

Ai Weiwei has been released!

On Wednesday night, June 22nd at 10:15 pm Beijing time, Xinhua produced a statement that Ai Weiwei had been released on bail because of “his good attitude in confessing crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from.” Hours later, Ai had returned to his home-studio compound in northeastern Beijing and responded to a flurry of text messages and phone calls. He has told the Guardian and other media outlets that he is “fine” and happy to be home. The first photos of Weiwei following his release appeared in the New York Times. The conditions of Weiwei’s release have yet to be confirmed, but Weiwei’s legal counsel, Liu Xiaoyuan, did suggest over Twitter that the artist would not be allowed to exit Beijing city limits. Weiwei himself has stated that he will not be allowed to conduct interviews or use social media for at least “one year.” Many have speculated about the timing of Weiwei’s release, which occurred just days before Wen Jiabao’s visit to Hungary, Germany and Britain, countries that have been particularly critical of Weiwei’s extrajudicial detention.

The NEVER SORRY team closely watched news of Weiwei’s release. I was able to speak with Weiwei earlier today from New York. He was at his home in Caochangdi with his mother. He was happy to be home.

Four of Ai’s associates who also were detained on April 3rd remain in custody. These individuals include independent journalist Wen Tao, Ai’s accountant Hu Mingfen, Ai’s driver and cousin Zhang Jinsong and FAKE designer Liu Zhenggang. None have been formally charged.

It goes without saying that this is a momentous day. Thank you for your support over the past 80 days and we hope to have NEVER SORRY in theaters as soon as possible. Stay tuned for premier and screening information.
Best,

Alison Klayman and the Never Sorry team

At just 5 quid, Ai Weiwei Speaks: with Hans Ulrich Obrist is not just a deal but a comprehensive portrait of the artist and activist. Hans Ulrich Obrist shares a years worth of conversations with Ai Weiwei, each helping reveal a different facet of the man’s complex character. Get it from Amazon.

Great news for Alison Klayman -

We are pleased to announced that AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY has received funding from the Cinereach Project at the Sundance Institute. The film was one of three documentaries selected. The initiative will award $1.5 million dollars to documentary and feature film projects over the next three years.

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is the first documentary film about detained artist-activist Ai Weiwei and has received major funding from Agnes Gund, the Hazen-Polsky Foundation and the Henry Luce Foundation. The film was shot over two years by Alison Klayman and is produced in association with MUSE Film and Television.

Check out our interviews with Alison Klayman to learn more about the film.

One of the highlights of Berlin’s Gallery Weekend 2011 is for sure the showcase of Chinese artist Ai WeiWei. At the gallery space at neugerriemschneider in Berlin, the artist is showing this week two new pieces of works, entitled ‘Rock’ and ‘Tree’. While the artist is still being detained by Chinese authorities, this exhibition is even more relevant. Amnesty International supporters lined up in front of the gallery, which also put up a massive “Where Is Ai WeiWei” sign on their building.

His two works shown at the gallery were executed using ancient Chinese handcraft traditions. The porcelain stones were made in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen, where porcelain production originates. They surround two trees that have been built from fallen trunks collected in the moutaineous regions of southern China. The tree fragments have been interlocked using a classic Chinese techniques. Together the installation of the works calls to mind a traditional Chinese garden.

The exhibition runs until June 4th, 2011.

Gallery Space at neugerriemschneider
Linienstrasse 155
Berlin
Germany

Photography: Curated Magazine

Many more images of the new Ai WeiWei works follow after the jump.

With news of Ai Weiwei’s detainment all over international media and Chinese officials investigating Weiwei for economic crimes, the second portion of our chat with Alison Klayman, director of “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry” comes amid a storm of Weiwei news. In this segment, Klayman talks about Weiwei’s process and interest in materials. Important throughout is the notion of the “idea” as the art.

Read the second part of my conversation with Alison Klayman after the jump.