Having had dinner last night with some friends and seeking, but not finding, a single article to send them this morning that succinctly summed up the artist, his career and international stature, his current L.A. exhibitions, and why I am gaga about both the man and his art, I am writing what follows. Ai Weiwei is the son of a famed Chinese poet who was exiled to China's northern provinces during the Cultural Revolution, where he was humiliated and subjected to forced labor. At age 19, after Mao's death, Ai and his family returned to Beijing, where he attended the Beijing Film Academy. He then spent over a decade in the United States, where he studied a bit, took photographs, absorbed the current American art scene, and experienced … [Read more...]