Ai Weiwei has received assurance from the Chinese government that he will be able to return to his home country following his 6-month stay in Britain.  “They know that I want to make China into a better country, that I am concerned about the young generation,” he said. “There is a basis of trust, otherwise they would not allow me, the former enemy of the state, my exhibitions; otherwise they would not have returned my passport.” (more…)

While Ai Weiwei’s passport has been returned to him, the artist has reportedly been limited in how long he can travel in Britain in the coming months.  While he had planned a six-month stay, the British Embassy had reduced his stay to only 20 days, citing an unreported conviction in Chinese court.  “The decision is a denial of Ai Weiwei’s rights as an ordinary citizen, and a stand to take the position of those who caused sufferings for human rights defenders,” the artist said in a statement on his Instagram. (more…)

The Economist reviews the touring exhibition of the M+ Museum collection, before the Hong Kong museum opens its doors in 2019, and profiles some of the most important contributors to the emergence of Chinese contemporary art worldwide, including businessman and diplomat Uli Sigg, and Guy Ullens, founder of the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art.  “The view was that art and culture were enshrined in the past—that Chinese art was ‘something ancient’,” says Edmund Capon, who served as head of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. (more…)

Ai Weiwei has opened a series of new exhibitions in Beijing, signaling a relaxation of the capital’s ban on the showing the artist, while foreign travel is still off limits.  “The decision-making process is opaque. I can only speculate that the authorities realize that they have created a situation that, sooner or later, has to be resolved,” says John Tancock, a longtime collaborator of Ai’s and an adviser to Chambers Fine Art. (more…)

The New York Times notes the increasing popularity of Chinese art on the secondary market, as the Chinese Communist Party increases its efforts to secure and repatriate works that have been looted, taken or sold away from the state in past centuries to the west, including, in some cases, thefts from national museums that target works looted from Beijing’s Old Summer Palace during  its century raid by British and French troops in the mid 19th century.  “They knew very well what they were after,” said Jean-François Hebert, president of the Château de Fontainebleau, where a number of iconic Chinese gold and bronze works were stolen in 2012. (more…)

Painter Zeng Fanzhi is the subject of a video profile on Nowness this week, shot in Paris and exploring his work and stance towards creating.  “An artist should follow his heart, create, then keep moving,” he says.  “If you keep repeating yourself than that’s a waste of the artistic life.” (more…)

For the New Museum and Rhizome’s latest iteration of the Seven on Seven Technology Conference, Ai Weiwei has teamed with Wikileaks and Tor Project activist Jacob Appelbaum for a project dealing with surveillance and international borders, with the collaboration filmed and presented by Laura Poitras, director of the Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour.  “It was important to bring together these two courageous people who are disseminating their messages using art and technology respectively, and facing similar levels of scrutiny and hardship as a result,” says Heather Corcoran, Senior Executive of Rhizome. (more…)

Auction houses in China are pushing further into the Modern and Impressionist Markets, the South China Morning Post reports, part of an attempt at beating a sales slump that has plagued the market in recent months.  “Selling Impressionist and modern art will be great business for us, as the artworks are traditionally very highly priced,” says Hu Yanyan, president of China Guardian Auctions and China Guardian (HK) Auctions. (more…)

Artist Cao Fei is interviewed in the New York Times today, underlining her work in recent years, and her move to Beijing from Guangzhou in 2006.  “In the beginning I felt like I couldn’t connect to the city,” she says.  “A lot of artists from southern China have that feeling when they come here. Take, for example, my husband, who is a Singaporean artist. For him to come here, the whole history and context is different. It’s not that easy.” (more…)

Rudolf Stingel, (Installation View), all images courtesy Gagosian Hong Kong

On view at Gagosian Hong Kong is an exhibition of recent paintings by Rudolf Stingel, representing the Italian artist’s first major exhibition of work in Asia. Exploring the nature of memory and the relationship between artwork and artist, Stingel continues expanding the vocabulary of painting with this series of work.

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Daniel Arsham at Galerie Perrotin, via Art Basel

Following a hectic weekend of events and openings, today caps the final day of Art Basel Hong Kong, bringing strong sales and attendance at the sixth edition of the massive Asian market event. (more…)

Bill Viola, Transformation (Installation View), all images courtesy Farschou Foundation

On view at Farschou Foundation Beijing is a solo show by American video artist Bill Viola. Known for his large-scale, high definition, ultra slow-motion moving images, the artist has served as an innovator in the technological execution and exhibition of video art. His show in Beijing, titled Transformation will continue through March 22nd.

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Aaron Curry, Vertical Wood Sculpture (2013), via Almine Rech

Just one week after The Armory Show closed its doors in New York, the sixth edition of Art Basel Hong Kong is preparing to open halfway around the world, with many familiar names vying to court collectors from Asia, Oceania and abroad.  The fair, which shuffled its calendar this year in response to the Venice Biennale opening in early May, is presenting something of a scaled-back experience this year, running just three days from Sunday to Tuesday, but should nevertheless prove successful as one of Asia’s largest art fairs. (more…)

The Los Angeles Times notes that an increasing number of Southern California arts orgs are targeting Chinese-American patrons in their fundraising and outreach campaigns.  “Within a decade from now, there’s no question in my mind there will be major donations to museums and other groups,” says Dominic Ng, chairman and chief executive of East West Bank.  “As Chinese Americans continue to prosper, they will naturally expand their involvement in the community,” he said. (more…)

The New York Times takes a look at the changing atmosphere of China’s contemporary art market, and interviews some of the players driving the market’s new focus on emerging artists.  “Buying a work of contemporary Chinese art is buying a little piece of history and a window into how society is changing,” says Tom Pattinson, Director of Surge Art. (more…)

Since opening in 2012, Shanghai’s Power Station of Art has become a central player in the rapidly expanding Chinese contemporary arts scene, as evidenced by the success of its recently opened 10th Shanghai Biennale.  “We want the Shanghai Biennale to be more international,” says Li Xu, deputy director of the Power Station. “This is a new kind of cultural confidence.” (more…)

Sterling Ruby, SP288 (2014), Courtesy Sterling Ruby Studio and Gagosian Gallery.

Declared ‘one of the most interesting artists to emerge in this century’ by Roberta Smith, Sterling Ruby has become one of the major fixtures among West Coast artists after leaving the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 2005. The L.A. based artist, who is known for his large scale ceramic or bronze sculptures and ambitious installations challenging the limits of artistic production (his first exhibition with Hauser & Wirth was on view in Chelsea this spring after the artist joined the gallery roster), is presenting VIVIDS, his spray paint works on canvas at Gagosian Hong Kong.  This exhibition is another addition to Ruby’s recent series of projects in Asia, which started with an exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery in Tokyo, and will continue with the Gwangju and Taipei biennials, alongside an upcoming exhibition at the Ullens Center in Beijing. (more…)

The Royal Academy of Art has announced plans for a landmark retrospective of the work of Ai Weiwei, planned for 2015.  “There are many artists and exhibitions I would like to put on but there’s something timely about Ai Weiwei,” says Programming Director Tim Marlow.  “He’s one of the most famous artists in the world but I don’t think his work is as well known as it should be.”
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Ai Weiwei, Blossom (2014) (Detail) photo by Jan Stürmann, courtesy of FOR-SITE foundation

After much anticipation, Ai Weiwei has opened his new project at Alcatraz, the former island prison in the San Francisco Bay.  The project, which brings seven large-scale installations incorporating photography, installation, sound and video, is a fitting continuation of Ai’s projects examination of incarceration following his own imprisonment in 2011.

Ai Weiwei, Yours Truly (2014) (Detail) photo by Jan Stürmann, courtesy of FOR-SITE foundation

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Ai Weiwei is preparing to open his newest exhibition of work at the former Alcatraz Prison this week, made possible through the efforts of dealer Cheryl Haines and her For-Site Foundation, a project that seeks to install specially focused works in unique environments.  “We are addressing issues of human rights, freedom of expression, the role of creative individuals in addressing these issues, and the role that communication plays in creating a just society,” Haines says. (more…)

Phillips  has announced plans to open its first location in Hong Kong, an expansion that sees the company living up to claims that it wants to be more aggressive in the current market.  “We are going to do our best to align Phillips with these new contemporary art movements worldwide,” says recently appointed CEO Edward Dolman.  (more…)

Zhang Huan, Shanxi Door No. 49 (2206), all images courtesy Pace Chesa Büsin

Pace Gallery has taken up space at Chesa Büsin in the Swiss town of Suoz this summer for a retrospective of works by Chinese artist Zhang Huan. Known for his especially visceral brand of performance art and his equally meticulous and exacting documentations, this exhibition primarily focuses on some of Zhang’s lesser known paintings, photography and works on paper. (more…)

Dahn Vo, We the People (Detail) (2011-2013), all images courtesy Farschou Foundation Beijing

On view currently at Farschou Foundation in Beijing is a sculpture-based exhibition from the young Danish artist Danh Vo, featuring the key work “We The People (Detail),” which is a 1:1 copy of the Statue of Liberty, which is currently distributed across globe for exhibitions in New York and China.  The exhibition will remain on view through August 24, 2014.

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Ai Weiwei at Brooklyn Museum, via Art Observed

Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei’s 2012 survey exhibition “According to What?” has made its way to the Brooklyn Museum after showings at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. and the Perez Art Museum in Miami. This blockbuster show is the artist’s first major international retrospective, and one which aims to bring together his ideals about life and art, which inescapably lead him to reflect on the nature of contemporary, and especially Chinese, politics. A balance that is often so hard to achieve through aesthetic means, the exhibition reveals Ai’s poignant installation work, which allows the viewer a rare experience into his world. The Brooklyn Museum show is enhanced by two installation pieces completed in 2013: S.A.C.R.E.D., exhibited at the Venice Biennale last year, and Ye Haiyan’s Belongings, a new piece installed specially in New York. (more…)