Artist Ai Weiwei is one of the most famous Chinese contemporary artists living today, who was born on the 18th of May, 1957, in Beijing, China. Ai Weiwei is the son of writer, Gao Ying and poet Ai Qing. His Father Ai Qing was well known in China, but was imprisoned before Ai Weiwei's birth, as the Nationalist government suspected him of being someone with left-wing political views during Chairman Mao's anti-intellectual campaign Ai Weiwei's family was exiled when Ai was only one year old.
Ai Weiwei is not just an artist, he is also a designer and an architect. In 1981, Ai Weiwei moved to New York, where he attended art school and lived for twelve years, before returning to China in 1993. Ai Weiwei began creating the artwork "Sunflower Seeds" in 2008
Artwork Ai Weiwei's artworks mainly reflect society, politics and economics in China. "Sunflower Seeds" is an artwork which was heavily inspired by Ai Weiwei's childhood, as he was born during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which was a time of poverty and uncertainty. People used to give each other sunflower seeds as a sign of compassion. The artwork was also heavily inspired by a Chinese Communist Propaganda poster, which depicted Chairman Mao as the sun, and the people of China as the sunflowers. Another of Ai Weiwei's creations is his "Trace" work, which was installed in 2014. The "Trace" works consists of 176 political prisoners, which were created using 1.2 million Lego bricks. This is an example of how Ai Weiwei draws inspiration from political events that have occurred.