Black, White, and Grey: Ai Weiwei in Beijing, 1993– 1997

Volume 16, Number 6, November/December 2017
by Stephanie Tung


Article Description

Stephanie Tung's examination of Ai Weiwei’s work from his first decade in Beijing against his concurrent practices as a collector of Chinese antiquities and editor of Black, White, and Grey Cover Books opens up new fields of inquiry: In what ways do ideas from the past resurface in the contemporary? How do these works advance or resist the modernist program for contemporary Chinese art presented in the books? And what do they say about the role of the individual artist in a rapidly changing society?


Related Keywords

Stephanie Tung, Ai Weiwei, collector of Chinese antiquities, Black, White, and Grey Cover Books, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, Blue and White series