Chinese artist and activist who produced a multifaceted array of creative work, including sculptural installations, architectural projects, photographs, and videos. While Ai’s art was lauded internationally, the frequently provocative and subversive dimension of his art, as well as his political outspokenness, triggered various forms of repression from Chinese authorities. Ai uses art as a means of confronting the sociopolitical system in China. His recurrent manipulations of Chinese cultural artifacts juxtapose the materiality and tradition of the country’s imperial history with symbols of the current phase of its modernization. Ai is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (2008); the Skowhegan Medal (2011); Honorary Academician at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2011); and the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent (2012).