Ai Weiwei. Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio. Photo: Gao Yuan

SEATTLE, WA.- The Seattle Art Museum opened a major retrospective in 2025 for Ai Weiwei, one of the world’s most well-known and celebrated artists. Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei (March 12– September 7, 2025) is the artist’s first US retrospective in over a decade and his largest-ever exhibition in the US. It also marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in Seattle. Ai, Rebel explores over 130 works created over four decades, from the 1980s to the 2020s, offering visitors from all over the world a rare opportunity to engage with the conceptual artist’s wide ranging body of work. Organized by the Seattle Art Museum and curated by FOONG Ping, SAM’s Foster Foundation Curator of Chinese Art, this career-spanning exhibition highlights Ai as a provocateur and identifies his key strategies for disrupting artistic canons and challenging political authoritarianism.

“This is a major moment for the Seattle Art Museum,” says José Carlos Diaz, SAM’s Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art. “Ai Weiwei’s work is thrilling, challenging, and thought-provoking, speaking to the most urgent issues of our time. There will be something exciting for everyone to discover in his playful and large-scale spectacles of ideas.”

The work of Ai Weiwei (Chinese, b. 1957) thrives on making familiar life unfamiliar again, consistently calling upon viewers to explore social, cultural, and political issues and to contemplate the ways in which personal and universal experiences are enmeshed. Ai, Rebel features iconic works from Ai’s career, including Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), Study of Perspective (1995-2011), Sunflower Seeds (2010), Neolithic Vase with Coca Cola Logo (gold) (2015), and Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (Gold) (2010). The exhibition also debuts works never shown in the US, including Marble Sofa (2011), a carving of an ordinary leather sofa.

“Ai Weiwei’s work cultivates an explosive tension between medium and meaning to dazzle the senses and stimulate the intellect,” says FOONG. “It plays the subtle line between what is artistically and socially acceptable to provoke shock, laughter, tears, and it makes us reconsider what is trash versus treasure or genuine versus counterfeit. We watch Ai’s commitment to watching those in power and are reminded of our own agency for collective resistance.”

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to exhibit my artworks at the Seattle Art Museum, an occasion I have eagerly anticipated,” says Ai Weiwei. “This collaboration provides a wonderful chance to reconnect and exchange ideas with audiences in the United States, an opportunity that has been long overdue. Over the past decades, my artistic and design endeavors have spanned a broad spectrum. I regard art as my life, and my life is deeply intertwined with my artistic expression, encompassing both traditional and non-traditional ways. Living in today's world, having the opportunity to convey the complexities and profundities of our era through an artist's perspective is a privilege I deeply cherish. I am looking forward to this exhibition, which I hope will spark both interest and thoughtful reflection among the attendees."

Exhibitions of Ai Weiwei’s work have brought sold-out crowds around the world, so the museum anticipates high demand and is making preparations for the best visitor experience. To increase access, SAM planned an extended run of six months, beyond its usual exhibition timeframe. Timed ticketing will increase access to the museum and improve flow in the galleries.

Ai Weiwei, Chinese, b. 1957, Profile of Marcel Duchamp in a Coat Hanger, 1986, wire clothes hanger, hanger: 15" x 11". Image courtesy of The Albertina Museum, Lisa Rastl, Reiner Riedler and Ai Weiwei Studio)

Ai Weiwei, Chinese, b. 1957, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995, black-and-white photographs (triptych), each: 58 x 48 in., Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio, © Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, Chinese, b. 1957, Middle Finger (Edition 1 of 4), 2000, gilt bronze, 14 x 27.5 x 9 in., Image courtesy of The Albertina Museum, Vienna / Lisa Rastl and Reiner Riedler and Ai Weiwei Studio, Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, Chinese, b. 1957, Ai Weiwei with the word "FUCK" sunburned onto his chest, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 2000, part of the Beijing Photographs series, 1993-2003, black and white photograph, Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio, ©️ Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, Chinese, b. 1957, Colored Vases, 2010, ceramic with industrial paint, approx. 17 x 22 in. each. Seattle Art Museum, Purchased with funds from the Estate of Robert M. Shields, 2013.33, Photo: Nathaniel Willson.

Ai Weiwei, Chinese, b. 1957, “Sunflower Seeds,” 2010, porcelain, one ton. Photo courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio)