Ai Weiwei Quotes about Art

Ai Weiwei is a famous Chinese political and conceptual artist. He is best known for his controversial works criticizing the Chinese government which have been supported and promoted by Western countries who have a similar political outlook. Famous Ai Weiwei artworks include “Sunflower Seeds”, “Forever (Bicycles)”, “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn”, “Coca-Cola Vase”, “With Wind”, “Little Girl’s Cheeks” and “So Sorry”.

Mini biography: Born Ai Weiwei on the 28th of August, 1957 in Beijing, China. His mother was Gao Ying and his father Ai Qing was a poet. Weiwei married the artist Lu Qing and they have one child together: Ai Lao.

List of Famous Ai Weiwei Art Quotes

I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it’s all we need. Ai Weiwei

I will never leave China, unless I am forced to. Because China is mine. I will not leave something that belongs to me in the hands of people I do not trust. Ai Weiwei

Liberty is about our rights to question everything. Ai Weiwei

House arrest, travel restrictions, surveillance, stopping phone service, cutting the Internet connection. What we can still do is greet the crazy motherland once again. Ai Weiwei

Expressing oneself is like a drug. I’m so addicted to it. Ai Weiwei

China is a society which forbids any flow of the information and freedom of speech. This is on record, so everybody should know this. Ai Weiwei

Stupidity can win for a moment, but it can never really succeed because the nature of humans is to seek freedom. Rulers can delay that freedom, but they cannot stop it. Ai Weiwei

I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical. Ai Weiwei

We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something. Ai Weiwei

I definitely know people who are shameless enough to give up basic values. I see this kind of art, and when I see it I feel ashamed. In China they treat art as some form of decoration, a self-indulgence. It is pretending to be art. It looks like art. It sells like art. But it is really a piece of shit. Ai Weiwei

Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility. Ai Weiwei

I often ask myself if I am afraid of being detained again. I love freedom as much as anybody else, maybe more than most. But it is a tragedy to live your life in fear. It is worse than actually losing your freedom. Ai Weiwei

Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one. Ai Weiwei

For the past year, I’ve not been allowed to travel, but now by logic and reasoning I’m a free man, except I cannot leave China. You know, I have no desire to travel. I have so many things to do; I cannot finish them now. Ai Weiwei

I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries. Ai Weiwei

More on Famous Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei

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Related or similar popular artists and celebrities include: Marcel Duchamp, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol and other Famous Chinese Artists.