Ai Weiwei: According to What, the provocative and often troubling survey of work by the Chinese dissident artist who has been beaten, jailed and harassed by authorities for his outspoken political beliefs, continues at the Brooklyn Museum through August 10^th.

Mr. Ai, who moved to New York City in 1983 and lived here until 1993, formed his approach as an artist/instigator during that time. He immersed himself in the art of the day, notably that of Andy Warhol, and learned an American visual language that was unlike anything he knew in China. He also embraced Warhol’s key influences, including Marcel Duchamps, among others.

The title of the survey was taken from a landmark work by Jasper Johns that dates from 1964 and was presented in New York by the Gagosian Gallery in 1992. The multi-panel work, which is executed in thickly layered paint and interspersed with the artist’s signature stencil lettering and found objects, including a cast leg and a hanger protruding from the surface. In his written statement, Johns said that the hanger would cast shadows “according to what happens around the painting.”

In the galleries with curator Mami Kataoka [center, in glasses] at the preview on April 16. In the foreground: Ai Weiwei, Colored Vases, 2008. Han Dynasty vases and industrial paint. Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio. Photo: Paula Scully

Ai Weiwei then began his practice of bricolage, collecting and recycling images, objects and ideas into his art—including the title for this show. He even includes a piece in homage of Marcel Duchamps created by bending a wire hanger to form that artist’s profile. With a scavenger’s eye, Mr. Ai stockpiles objects in his studio and directs a staff of artists and artisans to shape works according to his specifications. 

Ai Weiwei, Kippe, 2006 (detail); collection of Honus Tandijono. Photo: Beth Bischoff.

Visual puns and optical jokes are part of the mix, extending to his play on the restrictions imposed by Chinese authorities—and even the 140-character restriction imposed by Twitter. According to a recent news item, 140 Chinese characters would provide a writer with enough to produce a detailed report. Mr. Ai uses the form to produce punchy, memorable texts that have expanded his following in China to include thousands of people who came to his defense and sent him money when he was ordered to pay the equivalent of $2.4 million in back taxes.

So in the spirit of bricolage, this report continues with found statements about the artist and his work, with links to sources.

Ai Weiwei: According to What continues at the Brooklyn Museum through August 10. This is the last stop on the tour of this show, which originated at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and was organized by Mami Kataoka, its chief curator. The Brooklyn presentation has been expertly overseen by Ms. Kataoka and Sharon Matt Atkins, the museum’s managing curator of exhibitions. 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY. Public events calendar.

Ai Weiwei, Moon Chest, 2008 (background). Courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio. Photo: Beth Bischoff.

Regarding Mr. Ai’s art practice

Abundance is an Ai theme. One piece, not in this show, involved 100 million hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds strewn across the floor of London’s Tate Modern. Other themes involve authenticity and tradition and the ways in which we -- or the authorities -- destroy history to preserve it. Ai salvages wood for his sculptures from Qing Dynasty temples, torn down to make room for new buildings. Sometimes he himself is the destroyer: In three well-known photographs, he smashes a Han Dynasty vase to the ground.

It used to be said at Time Inc. that the trick to selling a magazine is to put on the cover something everyone is already talking about. Ai is a master of that kind of relevance. He established himself as a major figure in China by opening a window on Western traditions that the country was hungry for, returning after 12 years in New York City armed with concepts like Dada, pop art, minimalism and conceptual art (all amalgamated in his work). Anne Midgette for the Washington Post.

Ai Weiwei, Straight, 2008-2012. Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio. Photo: Beth Bischoff.

Regarding Mr. Ai’s arrest in 2011

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who disappeared into police custody in Beijing after he was detained on Sunday while trying to board a flight for Hong Kong, is a fully 21st-century figure, global-minded, media-savvy, widely networked. He is also the embodiment of a cultural type, largely unfamiliar to the West, that dates far back into China’s ancient past.

In a 30-year career he has combined, often at calculated personal risk, both aspects of his persona to create a role as an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, delivering his most stinging rebukes from within China itself. In light of his detainment, however, his ability to sustain this role, in China at least, would seem to be in serious doubt. Holland Cotter for the New York Times.

Regarding Mr. Ai’s use of Twitter:

Initially, he made his presence felt on his outspoken blog, complaining about the destruction of the old alleyway neighborhoods of Beijing to make way for the Olympics (his involvement with the Bird’s Nest notwithstanding) — until the blog was shut down by the government in 2009. That year he was beaten by the police when, in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, he began to agitate for more information about the shoddily built schools that collapsed, killing thousands of children. Then he was held incommunicado for 81 days in 2011, and, since his release, he has been prohibited from traveling beyond Beijing. Roberta Smith for The New York Times.

Ai Weiwei, F Size, 2011. In the background are photos of the stadium called “the Birdnest,” under construction for the 2012 Beijing Olympic Games. Mr. Ai collaborated on its design with the architects Hezrog & de Meuron.

Regarding Mr. Ai’s detention

Despite warnings from the authorities, Mr. Ai, 54, uses Twitter daily and meets with diplomats, journalists, artists and liberal Chinese. [In May 2012], a Beijing court agreed to hear a lawsuit that Mr. Ai has filed against local tax officials for demanding that he pay $2.4 million in back taxes and penalties. [The previous month], Mr. Ai set up four Web cameras to broadcast his daily home life, his way of mocking the police surveillance that surrounds him. Officers ordered him to stop.

“His personality is, ‘The more you push me, the harder I’m going to push back,’ ” said Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer and friend who was also detained last year. Edward Wong for the New York Times.