Ai Weiwei Exhibitions (464)

On Christmas night in 1776, George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River to surprise Hessian soldiers stationed at Trenton, New Jersey, marking a major turning point in the American Revolution. Since then, artists commemorated this event and its associations with independence in grand paintings, prints, sculptures, and installations. In 1851, the german American artist Emanuel Leutze (1816-1868) exhibited his vision of the scene in New York, and this heroic celebration of Washington’s leadership and military might, painted nearly a century after the depicted event occurred, became an iconic example of American history painting. Modern and contemporary artists provided new perspectives on this larger-than-life-size work, reexamining the conditions and accounts of the 1776 crossing and considering the peoples, perspectives, and histories that are not represented within Leutze’s composition.     

The Crossing: Picturing the American Revolution commemorates the 250th anniversary of this significant event and features works by local, national, and international artists Edward Hicks, William Francis Taylor, Charles W. Hargens, Robert Beck, Mort Künstler, Mark Thomas Gibson, vanessa german, Kent Monkman, Flechas, Ai Weiwei, and others. These artworks expand our understanding of history painting and demonstrate that memorializing and responding to the past through the arts has always sparked dialogue and called for further engagement. 

Graphic designer and design curator Jumping He understands “Paperwork” as an experimental project that explores the transformation of visual communication at the intersection of print media, digital forms of information, and new technologies.

He not only serves as a “cultural bridge” between Eastern and Western cultures, but has also developed his own distinctive style and design philosophy throughout his long-standing design practice. His work is characterized by conceptual precision, typographic sensitivity, and an experimental approach to materiality. The artist Ai Weiwei described him as a “designer for the global age.”

The exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into more than 25 years of design practice. On display are posters, books, graphic works, and paper installations that reveal the diverse possibilities of paper as a medium between design, communication, and art.

In art, a “citation” involves reimagining motifs, themes, and elements from earlier works—a resonance that is rarely literal, yet always unmistakable. In fact, much of art history unfolds as a continuous narrative of citations—evolving from ancient imagery through a dynamic interplay of references and lively dialogues.

From Painting to Painting. The art of citation explores this rich and fascinating web of reinterpretations. The exhibition unfolds in eight sections, starting off minimal and conceptual before becoming more colourful, vivid, and pop-inspired: Vis à vis, The Copy, Paintings within Paintings, Marks, D’après, The Morandi Case, Covers (the largest section, bridging to contemporary art), and Avida Dollars. Featuring 150 works from the Mart Collections and key public and private lenders, and nearly 80 artists, the exhibition is structured around the idea that art history is a captivating sequence of ‘covers’: forms and themes from the past travel through time, constantly being reimagined.

From the close dialogue between early twentieth-century masters and the ancients—seen in Giorgio de Chirico’s copy after Raphael or Virgilio Guidi’s copy after Correggio—to the device of the “painting within the painting,” the exhibition reveals how the artist’s studio has always been a place for reflection and paying tribute to great models.

Painters such as Felice Casorati, Filippo de Pisis, and Renato Guttuso include explicit references to masterpieces of the past or to their own works, transforming the painted surface into a complex layering of visual memories.

With the advent of photography and later pop culture, the concept of technical reproducibility, as analysed by Walter Benjamin, is amplified, undermining the traditional idea of the artwork’s uniqueness. The exhibition highlights this crucial shift through the works of contemporary artists such as Giulio Paolini, Luigi Ontani, and Francesco Vezzoli, whose research is based on appropriation and the ironic play of identification with the masters of the past.

The exhibition finally moves into the present, exploring the languages of mass media. Here, timeless images such as the Mona Lisa or iconic Venuses give way to or blend with cinematic myths, or are swept up in the forces of mass consumption and production, tracing a path from Andy Warhol’s pop revolution to Piero Manzoni’s conceptual provocations.

Amidst digital reinterpretations, visual puns, and reflections on the commodification of beauty, the exhibition encourages visitors not only to question what they see, but also how they see, and, above all, to consider the very power of looking.

This project invites visitors into a hall of mirrors that sparks curiosity and engagement, encouraging everyone to look for connections—some obvious, others more subtle. The environment awakens our visual memory and invites us to notice echoes of the past, not only in the works of early twentieth-century artists who looked back to the old Masters (like Giorgio de Chirico, Achille Funi, Felice Casorati), but also in those of key artists from the late twentieth century (such as Mario Schifano, Giulio Paolini, Andy Warhol) and today’s leading figures (Francesco Vezzoli, Vik Muniz, Ai Weiwei).

This presentation of the MUSAC Collection analyses the use of systems in contemporary art, from autonomous systems to dependent systems and from inflexible, closed methodologies to open-ended processes. This exhibition compares and contrasts different ways of approaching these ideas, striking up intersecting conversations to facilitate interaction between closed-loop and organic, dynamic systems. Through Mitsuo Miura and Piero Golia, this perspective examines the concept of the loom and textiles as a constructive system based on rhythms and juxtaposes it with the idea of the mosaic—one of the earliest superstructural systems generated by visual culture, which had its heyday in Byzantium—as expressed by Pedro Mora and, via his toy-brick pictures, Ai Weiwei. This idea of meaning in relation to medium is one of the exhibition’s conceptual pillars. The digital, the structural and the kinetic are incorporated in such a way that they raise questions about generation, accumulation and our current understanding of the value of images. The ordering of chaos is represented in the works of Julie Mehretu and Julieta Aranda. In Aranda’s case, an installation that is constantly being rearranged lets us witness the evolution of a cross between kinetic and conceptual art. The show also features works by Lara Favaretto, Joan Fontcuberta, Candida Höfer, Mitsuo Miura, Ian Monroe, Julian Opie and Daniel Rozin.

The Hall Art Foundation is pleased to announce a group exhibition, A Farewell to the Western World, to be held in Reading, Vermont from 9 May - 29 November 2026. Borrowing its title from a painting by the acclaimed Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie, A Farewell to the Western World gathers approximately 70 artworks in painting, drawing, sculpture and photography that depict imagery suggestive of global shifts and an irreverence towards systems of established order. By tracing patterns of conflict, power, and sociopolitical upheaval that have concerned artists globally, A Farewell to the Western World attempts to condemn and lay bare the causes and effects of authoritarian regimes, racism and political violence throughout history, prompting a look at our present day and a warning against history repeating itself. As fascist tendencies last seen almost a century ago appear to be in ascendancy, assumptions of "history ending" and liberal democracy are similarly challenged. Although these often-stark images illustrate the consequences of their time, they underscore a humbling reminder that every generation determines its own reckoning.

Ghenie's painting A Farewell to the Western World (2007) situates a white-clothed figure within a bunker, perched atop a miniaturized version of the New York City skyline and Greco-Roman antiquities. The composition references an installation image from the 1939 New York World's Fair, an international presentation of cultural and technological innovations in which 62 nations participated. Ghenie's ominous interpretation painted in grisaille is perhaps a reflection of a post-Soviet Romania where the benefits of Western influence, in particular the promises of its governing and financial structures, were questioned.

The artist Ai Weiwei similarly provokes symbols of power inherent to governing structures. From 1995 to 2003, Weiwei photographed himself gesturing his middle finger towards buildings defined by their political influence, including the Basilica San Marco in Venice, the Reichstag in Berlin, the Red Square in Moscow, and Tiananmen Square in Beijing. In Study of Perspective (White House) (1994-1999), made during the Clinton Administration, Weiwei photographed his finger from a far vantage point, illustrating the diminished scale of the presidential building from across the great lawn.

Collective perception through media coverage is a key aspect of Aleksandra Mir's work. In Mir's Newsroom series, the artist invited others to use her archive of tabloid newspaper covers in the recreation of large-scale drawings. Reproduced only with black Sharpie marker, the covers' font, scale, and composition were dramatized by individual interpretation across trending themes like the weather, police activity, and celebrity. In 2020, Mir revived the series featuring headlines about Donald Trump that were published prior to his first campaign. Newsroom Revival: Are You Kidding (2020) is an example of Trump's unique ability to manipulate mainstream media attention, a method that has defined most authoritarian regimes around the world.

Painted decades earlier, Philip Guston's Courtyard (1969) centers two of his iconic hooded figures facing off under a clock in a space defined only by a brick wall. Paired down to its simplest elements, Guston's narratives have been heralded for forefronting concerns of the Civil Rights Movement. His most celebrated compositions are founded in a politicized and historic return to figuration after a period of abstraction during the 1960s, recalling his earlier work producing murals for the Works Progress Administration, an agency created under President Roosevelt's New Deal. At a time of massive internal upheaval in the United States while under the shadow of the Vietnam War, Guston's work suggested that to combat inequality, its perpetrators had to be clearly identified.

“Four Rooms” assembles a suite of four exhibitions comprising works from the museum’s permanent collection, each organized by one of the museum’s curators, with a focus on recent acquisitions. The resulting presentations, which take the form of vignettes, demonstrate both the diversity and the historical depth of ICA Miami’s collection. The exhibition continues the museum’s ongoing approach to generating dialogue between newly commissioned works and works from the last fifty years and expresses the global scope of ICA Miami’s collection. 

Spirit Matter, curated by Donna Honarpisheh, Associate Curator, Art + Research, brings together diverse experimentations with material that transform matter into portals of spiritual encounter across global contexts. In an exhibition dedicated to grisaille, Gean Moreno Director, ICA Miami’s Art + Research Center, presents works that are meditations on the body and its traces, where presence, memory, and identity emerge through black-and-white photography and subtle performative gestures. Associate Curator Amanda Morgan invites viewers to reflect on intimacy and one’s relationship to the spaces of everyday life. Her exhibition brings together works that feature emotionally laden domestic objects and built environments that imply presence without depicting the human form. Finally, Alex Gartenfeld, Artistic Director, highlights a concise presentation of the museum’s wide-ranging examples of minimalism, highlighting a recent major acquisition of work by Miriam Schapiro. 

Featuring works by such acclaimed modern and contemporary artists as Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close, David Hockney, Yoko Ono, Kara Walker, Ai Weiwei, and more, this never-before-seen exhibition offers a rare glimpse into private collections held throughout Southwest Florida. From paintings, sculptures, and prints to photographs and video works, Something Borrowed, Something New showcases a diverse range of artworks produced by some of the most prominent artists of our time. Complementing these borrowed selections, this show also features exciting new pieces and creates a dialogue between the works of late 20th-century trailblazers and today’s leading global artists. Together, this curation celebrates our region’s passion for the visual arts with extraordinary artworks never to be exhibited side-by-side again.

Get up close with Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (2010) at the Olympic Sculpture Park, where you can walk among these monumental sculptures. Consisting of 12 zodiac head sculptures arranged in an arcing semicircle, each animal in Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads stands over ten feet tall and weighs over 1500 pounds. The sculptures are installed in order of the traditional Chinese zodiac cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.

The works reconceive the 12 zodiac heads that decorated an 18th-century Qing imperial fountain before they were looted during the Second Opium War (1856–60). Seven are based on the original heads that have survived, and Ai researched and reimagined the five animals still missing to complete the zodiac. This work embodies Ai’s long-standing questioning of our tendency to value the real over the fake and the original over the copy.

Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads joins over twenty monumental sculptures in the park, including The Eagle (1971) by Alexander Calder, Wake (2002–2003) by Richard Serra, and Seattle Cloud Cover (2006) by Teresita Fernández. See this temporary installation situated in the Ackerly Meadow, just outside of the PACCAR Pavilion at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Seattle’s largest green space, the nine-acre sculpture park, is free and open daily from thirty minutes before sunrise to thirty minutes after sunset.

Collections are vital assets for museums, offering insight into the artistic and historical trends of a given era. Making their collections seen and accessible is a crucial role of museums, one that is fundamentally bound up with their very function. The Cabinet of Curiosities in 16th-century Europe, regarded as the origin of the museum, displayed rare and exotic collections, providing audiences with novel experiences and opportunities for intellectual exploration. With the rise of the modern nation-state, the definition of ‘public’ expanded, and works of art that had once been privately owned became accessible to wider audiences, ultimately evolving into the modern museum.

This collection exhibition presents around 40 carefully selected works from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA)’s global art collection, curated to invite fresh encounters and intellectual discovery, much like the Cabinet of Curiosities once did. Visitors can appreciate 19th-century European art from MMCA Lee Kun-hee Collection, acquired by the museum in 2021, alongside a wide range of global works that helped expand the horizons of modern art.

The exhibition's Korean title, Water-Lily and Chandelier — a pairing of two seemingly disparate words — combines the titles of The Wate-Lily Pond (1917-1920) by Claude Monet, a representative 19th-century impressionist painter of light, and Black Chandelier (2017-2021) by Ai Weiwei, a world-renowned contemporary artist. The conjunction and between Water-Lily, signifying nature, and Chandelier, a man-made object, suggests new possibilities of connection across time and boundaries. By reflecting on the diverse global art scenes unfolded over the 100 years between the two works, and by imagining the relationships they evoke, visitors will be invited into moments of novel experiences filled with curiosity.

Everything Now All At Once showcases iconic works in the Nasher Museum’s contemporary collection, in honor of its twentieth anniversary.

Building an art collection is not unlike making a mixtape: you choose songs based on what you think the listener will like and the messages you want them to hear and feel. A mixtape is a more tightly curated playlist, where the connection and flow from song to song is as important as the overall content. Imagine that the Nasher Museum’s collection is a visual mixtape made specially for its audiences across Duke, Durham, and the world. The artworks in this exhibition make a soundtrack of our history and the shared experiences we have built with our visitors near and far.

Since 2005, the museum has built a groundbreaking collection of contemporary art focused on amplifying underrepresented voices. This forward-thinking collection exemplifies the museum’s dedication to prioritizing artists who have been historically undervalued, fostering artists’ career growth through commissioned works, and acquiring works at defining moments in an artist’s career. Acquisitions from the last twenty years, some on view here for the first time, include works by North Carolina-based, national, and international artists, highlighting both the local impact and global reach of the museum’s vision.

This exhibition not only celebrates two decades of thoughtful collecting but also looks ahead. Recent acquisitions point to the museum’s continued commitment to its founding values and its ambitions for the future.

Patrick Derom Gallery presents Ai Weiwei’s first major retrospective in Belgium. Iconic works from the 1990s, such as the photographic series Study of Perspective, are shown alongside landmark pieces including Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo, in which the artist confronts cultural heritage with contemporary critique. The exhibition also features more recent works, notably his LEGO compositions such as Illumination, as well as his button-based practice represented by F.U.C.K..

The sculptural works Grapes and Strength, together with the monumental installations Left Right Studio Material and Snake Ceiling, demonstrate the continual expansion of Ai Weiwei’s artistic language. Through this diversity of media and formats, the retrospective highlights a coherent body of work shaped by an ongoing reflection on systems of power, cultural memory, and freedom of expression.

In parallel, a companion exhibition is presented at the Musée Émile Verhaeren. It originates from the unique connection between the Belgian poet Émile Verhaeren and Ai Qing, the artist’s father, who was the first to translate Verhaeren’s poetry into Chinese, introducing his work to Chinese audiences. This formative encounter had a profound impact on Ai Qing’s intellectual and artistic development. Extending the retrospective, this dialogue between poetry, memory, and legacy situates Ai Weiwei’s work within a narrative that is both deeply personal and intercultural.