Ai Weiwei was born in northwest China but was sent to a labor camp in Beidahuang, Heilongjiang, when he was only a year old. There he was raised for the early years of his life. His father Aì Qīng’s involvement in the Anti-Rightist Movement led to the family's exile shortly afterward to Shihezi, Xinjiang, where Ai spent the duration of his childhood. Upon Mao Zedong’s death, the family returned to Beijing in 1976.
Following the family’s return home, Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy to study animation in 1978. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde art group the Stars alongside contemporaries Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Mao Lizi, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Ah Cheng and Qu Leilei. The Stars disbanded in the 1980s, but Ai participated in regular shows that recalled the ten years that the group had been together, including at the Hanart Gallery in 1989 and the retrospective 2007 exhibition at Beijing's Origin Point.
Ai moved to the USA in 1981, among the earliest of students to study abroad following China’s reform in 1980, which afforded him the opportunity to take the TOEFL in 1981. He lived in Philadelphia and then in San Francisco, studying English at the University of California, Berkeley. Afteward, Ai studied at Parsons School of Design in New York City and attended the Art Students League of New York from 1983 to 1986. He initially made a living by drawing street portraits.
Immersing himself in the Pop art scene, which was rapidly gaining popularity, Ai began creating conceptual art and photography. Ai returned to China after his father became ill in 1993, and while there he helped to establish the experimental art scene called Beijing East Village. In 1999, Ai built a studio house in Beijing — his first architectural project. Ai founded the architecture studio FAKE Design in 2003, and co-curated the art exhibition "Fuck Off" with Feng Boyi in Shanghai.
In 2011, Ai was arrested and jailed. Released after 81 days, the government confiscated his passport. His release was in part due to the uproar of the art world against his charges of tax evasion; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the International Council of Museums both organized petitions, collecting almost 100,000 signatures calling for his release. When he reclaimed his passport in 2015, Ai moved to Berlin and lived in a studio. It became a base for him to create his international work.
Ai is the artistic director of China Art Archives & Warehouse. The experimental gallery and archive, co-founded by Ai in 1997, concentrates on experimental art from the People’s Republic of China, initiating and facilitating exhibitions both in China and internationally.
Ai's work is in the collections of museums worldwide, including the Tate, London; Arken, London; Brooklyn Museum, New York; and the RA, London. His international architectural collaborations, including the Beijing National Stadium and the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, have consistently been met with critical acclaim.
Find a variety of authentic Ai Weiwei prints, paintings and other art today on 1stDibs.
$7,500
Crabs, The World is Changing Lt Ed 126/150 skateboard deck political protest art
By Ai Weiwei
Located in New York, NY
Ai Weiwei Crabs, 2010-11 Limited Edition, hand numbered Silkscreen on 100% Canadian 2-Ply Maplewood Skateboard. Signed on the deck 31 × 1 × 3/10 inches Edition 126/150 Signed on the ...
Wood, Ink, Mixed Media, Screen
Cats Black, 2022
By Ai Weiwei
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Lovely work from the artist.
Screen
$600
H 19.7 in W 23.6 in
"Night Seashell" 2006 Original Abstract Hand Signed silkscreen Print Cuban Art
By Carlos García de la Nuez
Located in Miami, FL
"Carlos Garcia De La Nuez (Cuba, 1959) 'Caracoles nocturnos', 2006 silkscreen on paper 19.7 x 23.7 in. (50 x 60 cm.) Edition of 104 ID: GAR1649-007-104" ____________________________________________ "Carlos García de la Nuez. Born in Havana, Cuba, 1959. Lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a member of the renowned 1980s generation of Cuban artists, whose works differentiated from other contemporaries, noticeably in their intentional distancing from political criticism as a form of expression. This generation was interested in establishing and legitimizing new values of art for art’s sake, gathering inspiration from art movements happening outside of Cuba. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, the artist’s paintings explore abstraction and semiotics through the use of color, texture and scale. García de la Nuez participated in the historic 1982 exhibition titled 4x4 with colleagues Gustavo Acosta...
Ink, Screen
$600
H 19.7 in W 23.6 in
"Pauses" 2006 Original Abstract Hand Signed silkscreen Print Cuban Artist
By Carlos García de la Nuez
Located in Miami, FL
Carlos Garcia De La Nuez (Cuba, 1959) 'Pausas', 2006 silkscreen on paper 19.7 x 23.7 in. (50 x 60 cm.) Edition of 99 Unframed ID: GAR1649-006-104 ____________________________________________ "Carlos García de la Nuez. Born in Havana, Cuba, 1959. Lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a member of the renowned 1980s generation of Cuban artists, whose works differentiated from other contemporaries, noticeably in their intentional distancing from political criticism as a form of expression. This generation was interested in establishing and legitimizing new values of art for art’s sake, gathering inspiration from art movements happening outside of Cuba. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, the artist’s paintings explore abstraction and semiotics through the use of color, texture and scale. García de la Nuez participated in the historic 1982 exhibition titled 4x4 with colleagues Gustavo Acosta...
Ink, Screen
$300
H 11.6 in W 17.7 in
"The Wait" 2020 signed original limited edition silkscreen 12x18in abstract
By Ray Smith
Located in Miami, FL
Ray Smith (United States, 1959) 'La Espera', 2020 Silkscreen on paper. Edition of 50 11.7 x 17.8 in. (29.5 x 45 cm.) Ref: SMI-101 Ray Smith (American, b.1959) Born in Brownsville, T...
Ink, Screen
$2,000
H 31 in W 8 in D 0.3 in
Le fils de l'homme, limited edition skateboard Surrealist artist 36/250 (estate)
By René Magritte
Located in New York, NY
Rene Magritte Le fils de l'homme, 2018 7-Ply Grade A Canadian Maplewood 31 × 8 inches Edition 35/250 Authorized artist's signature on the deck; hand numbered. along with separate han...
Wood, Mixed Media, Screen
$700
H 10 in W 10 in
Eggbeater 1: 34 Square inch Limited Edition Silk Scarf, for the Whitney Museum
By Stuart Davis
Located in New York, NY
Stuart Davis Eggbeater No. 1 Silk Scarf, ca. 1980 100% silks scarf 34 × 34 inches (the smaller measurements shown are after the scarf is folded, to minimize shipping costs, as it sh...
Silk, Screen
$1,875Sale Price|25% Off
H 17.75 in W 32.25 in D 2 in
An Atlantic City Summer (signed 3D mixed media serigraph)
By Charles Fazzino
Located in Aventura, FL
3D constructed mixed media serigraph on paper. Hand signed lower right by Charles Fazzino. Hand numbered 33/350 DX lower left. This Deluxe Edition features three layers of dimensi...
Mixed Media, Screen
$2,800
H 15 in W 16 in D 1.5 in
The People, signed 3D photo realist mixed media sculpture of people viewing art
By Howard Kanovitz
Located in New York, NY
Howard Kanovitz The People, 1971 3-5 Mixed Media Silkscreen on Plexiglas and aluminum base Signed: Artist's Signature etched on the work and annotated A.P., Edition of 1 (an Artists Proof, aside from the regular edition of 75) 15 × 16 × 1 1/2 inches Signatured etched on the work and annotated A.P. , aside from the limited edition of 75. This excellent 1971 3-D photo realist work "The People" is a multiple based upon a larger work the artist did of people beholding a work of art. Here, we see them only from behind, because they are busy looking at art - a clever photorealist work - art about art - catching people in the process of looking at art. Howard Kanovitz Biography Howard Kanovitz was a leader of Photo Realism: a documenter of style and fashion, depicting members of the art scene at openings, or superimposing known critics and curators onto images of board room meetings. In his particular style, he explored the intersections of painting, photography, fiction, and fact. Kanovitz studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and The Art Studenst League in Woodstock where he worked with Yasuo Kyniyoshi before moving to New York an apprenticing with Franz Kline. As a member of New York’s downtown art scene, Kanovitz painted abstract paintings, which he exhibited at Tenth Street Galleries early in his career. Following his father’s death in 1963, Kanovitz went through family photos, an experience which prompted him to interrogate the relationship between images and perception. At this time, Kanovitz abandoned abstraction in favor of a figurative style and worked arduously in this new direction. These efforts culminated in a 1966 solo exhibition at the Jewish Museum, securing his place as a leader of Photo Realism among artists such as Larry Rivers, Alex Katz, and Chuck Close. His photo based, representational paintings exhibited at the Jewish Museum show were the first to be called “photo-realist” and shocked many in the art community prompting a symposium which was held at the New York Studio School for “downtown artists” to weigh in on this perennial “hot topic”, newly addressed by one of their own. Kanovitz first began using airbrush in 1967, giving his paintings a feeling of photographic perfection. Cut out figures created using this precisionist technique were placed in the viewers space, often in front of Kanovitz’s painted canvas depicting the luminaries of the art world of the time. This type of installation was the centerpiece in the first of several Waddell Gallery shows. Kanovitz has been the subject of many solo museum shows internationally and his work is collected by institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Britain, London, and Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna. -Courtesy Eric Firestone...
Plastic, Plexiglass, Mixed Media, Etching, Screen
$1,700
H 30 in W 22 in
Fritz Scholder American artist 1982 original hand signed engraving mask woman
By Fritz Scholder
Located in Miami, FL
Fritz Scholder (United States, 1937-2005) 'Mask of a mystery woman', 1982 engraving on paper 30 x 22.1 in. (76 x 56 cm.) ID: SCH1341-002-000 Unframed
Paper, Ink, Engraving, Aquatint, Screen, Etching
Silver Lantern Flowers 2025
By Donald Sultan
Located in Fairfield, CT
Color silkscreen with enamel inks and tar-like texture on Rising 2-ply museum board Portfolio of 8: $16,000
Ink, Board, Screen
$4,500
H 28 in W 40.25 in D 1 in
Peter Halley - CORE Geometric Abstraction Silkscreen, Lithograph Signed/N Framed
By Peter Halley
Located in New York, NY
Peter Halley Core, 1991 Limited Edition Silkscreen with lithography on Coventry Rag paper. Pencil signed and numbered 13/50 on the front Publisher: Edition Schellmann & Pace Edit...
Lithograph, Screen
$8,500
H 42 in W 42 in D 2.5 in
Nelson De La Nuez "Pop. Fizz. Clink." Mixed Media
By Nelson De La Nuez
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: De La Nuez, Nelson Title: Pop. Fizz. Clink. Series: Sketches Date: 2025 Medium: Screenprint with hand applied acrylic Framed Dimensions: 42" x 42" Signature: Signed Ed...
Acrylic, Screen
Nelson De La Nuez "Love Story" Mixed Media
By Nelson De La Nuez
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: De La Nuez, Nelson Title: Love Story Series: Sketches Date: 2025 Medium: Screenprint with Hand Applied Acrylic Framed Dimensions: 46" x 43" Signature: Signed Edition: ...
Acrylic, Screen
Sold
H 31 in W 8 in D 0.3 in
F?!k (There are No Outdoor Sports as Graceful as Throwing Stones at a Dictators)
By Ai Weiwei
Located in New York, NY
Ai Weiwei F*?!k (There are No Outdoor Sports as Graceful as Throwing Stones at a Dictatorship in the World), 2010 Limited Edition Silkscreen on 7 Ply Grade A Canadian Maplewood 31 × ...
Wood, Screen
Sold
H 74.81 in W 39.38 in
Wo ist die Revolution -Contemporary, 21st Century, Ai Weiwei, China
By Ai Weiwei
Located in Zug, CH
Wo ist die Revolution -Contemporary, 21st Century, Ai Weiwei, China Wo ist die Revolution, 2019 Inkjet Print Edition of 180 190 x 100 cm (74.8 x 39.3 in.) Signed and numbered In mint condition, as acquired from the publisher in the original packaging PLEASE NOTE: Edition numbers could vary from the one shown in the images. The pictures are only for illustrative reasons, the work is offered unframed. “If you look at art history you see that only important art moments...
Inkjet
Artist’s Hand - sculpture by Ai Weiwei
By Ai Weiwei
Located in London, GB
Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) The Artist’s Hand, 2017 Artist’s signature inscribed on the base Cast urethane resin multiple with electroplated rhodium, contained in the original cardboard pres...
Resin, Mixed Media