NEW YORK, NY.- Artist, designer, architect, author, publisher, and curator: Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) is a truly 21st-century creative, influential across a variety of media. During his childhood, criticism of his father’s poetry—he was labeled as a dissident—meant that Ai and his family were exiled to a remote region of China for 16 years. Following the death of Chairman Mao, Ai left to train as an artist in Beijing and New York. Ai is today an artist of global stature, and his strong social conscience has galvanized a generation of Chinese artists. With works that touch on topics such as imprisonment, borders, and disaster, Ai has often found himself in conflict with the Chinese authorities.

A new book, Ai Weiwei (Royal Academy of Arts, distributed in the U.S. by Abrams), is published to coincide with a major exhibition at the Royal Academy in London—the largest showing of Ai’s work to date. This volume includes installations and artworks specially created for the exhibition, and interview with Ai by Tim Marlow, and contributions from a team of scholars, analyzing the variety of Ai’s output and concerns.

Tim Marlow is director of artistic programs at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. John Tancock has worked with and written about Ai Weiwei extensively. Daniel Rosbottom is head of the School of Architecture and Landscape at Kingston University and co-director of DRDH Architects. Adrian Locke is a curator at the Royal Academy of Arts

Founded by Harry N. Abrams in 1949, ABRAMS is the preeminent publisher of high quality art and illustrated books. Now a subsidiary of La Martinière Groupe, ABRAMS is the publisher of bestsellers such as the wildly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney, the award-winning cookbooks of Alton Brown, and the stunning photography of Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s Earth from Above. ABRAMS publishes books in the areas of art, photography, cooking, interior design, craft, fashion, sports, and pop culture, as well as children’s books and general interest. The company’s imprints include Abrams; Abrams Appleseed; Abrams ComicArts; Abrams Image; Abrams Books for Young Readers; Amulet Books; Stewart, Tabori & Chang; and STC Craft.