Infamous Tea & Honey show
The West seems to endlessly fascinate over the controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. While some may question whether his fame is more for his politics rather than any artistic innovation, there is no doubt that every story involving the Beijing native is gobbled up by news groups.
Recently he made headlines for being named the most influential person in the art world by ArtReview, much to the chagrin of the Chinese government (the only other artist to achieve this feat was he of the pickled shark and diamond-encrusted skull, Damien Hirst). Since then, Ai has yet again been the source of much gossip, tied up with blogosphere conspiracy theories, over the supposed USD2.4 million he owes in taxes to the government.
No wonder, then, that people in Bad Ems, Germany thought someone had actually murdered the bearded activist when an effigy of his corpse turned up in a gallery's window display. Local police were alerted by passersby who thought the sculpture, created by artist He Xiangyu out of plastic and fiberglass, was actually the real deal.
