Ai Weiwei: The reception of his artistic production

Abstract

Ai Weiwei is the artist with greater visibility inside and outside China, he stands out for his prolific, diverse, committed and controversial artistic production. His proposals raise considerable interest and obtain an outstanding impact in China and in an international scenario. Indeed, he is one of the Chinese contemporary artists that have achieved greater presence in the media and in the Spanish exhibition circuits, an example of this is the organization of the first museum exhibition of his work at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (2013) and the premiere of the documentary film about his life and his work Never Sorry (2013), directed by Alison Klayman.

Ai Weiwei is a public figure and his visibility becomes a platform from which to articulate artistic projects that focus on specific social problems. At the same time, the political criticism of Ai Weiwei is especially attractive in a Euro-American context which emphasizes his role as a dissident and agitator. Within these parameters, we will delve into the reception of the artistic production of Ai Weiwei both in the international and the Spanish context, by analyzing the approach of the media about this author.