© Ai Weiwei, 1985, ‘Hanging Man’

One of Ai Weiwei’s early works during his time in New York was inspired by the likeness and artistry of Marcel Duchamp.

© Ai Weiwei, June 1994, Tiananmen square, Beijing / China

Ai Weiwei went on a hunger strike after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown (in Beijing, China). When he returned home from exile in New York, where he studied painting and photography, one of his first acts was to take a photo of his wife lifting her skirt and exposing her underwear on Tiananmen Square.