Ai Weiwei, detained by the Chinese authorities and unreachable since 3 April, has joined a select band of artists who have risked everything for their ideals. Ai Weiwei joins a select band of artists who have risked everything for ideals. Michelangelo was arguably the first dissident artist when he created fortifications for the revolutionary republic of Florence in 1529: in fact, he and Ai Weiwei have something in common as artists who work on a grand public scale. You could call the floor of the Tate Turbine Hall a modern equivalent of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, in both fame and impact. In the 19th century, the tough realist painter Gustave Courbet joined the Paris commune and died in exile for his ideals: again, like Ai Weiwei and Michelangelo, he was a charismatic personality who seemed too big to be brought down. But he was cruelly punished. Will Ai Weiwei be a Courbet or a Michelangelo? While the Communard painter was ruined by his political enemies, Michelangelo was spared and allowed to carry on working and enjoying his success after the defeat of the Florentine rebellion – he really was too big to hurt. We have to hope that the state will release Ai Weiwei and his fame will continue to protect him. Whatever happens, he is that rare thing: the artist as moral and political hero. Britain, the United States and the European Union, as well as leading figures in the art world, have joined the growing international outcry over his detention and Beijing's wider crackdown on dissidents and activists. Ai's wife, Lu Qing, told Reuters: "This time it's extremely serious. They searched his studio and took discs and hard drives and all kinds of stuff, but the police haven't told us where he is or what they're after."
Excerpt: The Guardian
