Artist Ai Weiwei will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the prestigious Art Students League in New York on Oct. 9. Ai joins the ranks of other League icons including Norman Rockwell, Georgia O'Keefe, and Jackson Pollack.

Having studied at the League from 1983 to 1986, Ai, 57, became the name on the art world's lips for his collaboration on the design for the Beijing National Olympic Stadium, a/k/a the "Bird's Nest," and his October 2010 installation of Sunflower Seeds at the Tate Modern in London.

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Ai may best be known for his 81-day incarceration by Communist Party officials in 2011 for allegedly spreading pornography, bigamy, and tax evasion amounting to 12 million yuan (nearly US$2 million), charges many believe to be trumped-up in response to Ai's activism for freedom of expression and demands for government transparency after the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake. His offices were raided, and several of Ai's associates were themselves detained and questioned. It was the most severe of a long string of harassments that included a beating resulting in a cerebral hemorrhage.

Ai's arrest set off massive protests in art communities across the planet and drew sharp rebukes from officials in Hong Kong, European Union, and United States. Regular Chinese threw money onto his lawn to help pay the fines. His arrest and court case is documented in the form of The Fake Case, and he maintains the allegations against them from Beijing's desire to keep him and other artists, dissidents, and intellectuals silent.

His detention also led to his exploration of his art through music. In 2013, he released "The Divine Comedy" that also explores his arrest and other issues in China.

"During my detention, the conditions were very restrictive, but the guards would often secretly ask me to sing for them," Ai said on his website. "Being in that environment makes me realize that for these people, the only available release or means to kill time is music.

"I felt deeply sorry that I couldn't do it, either I was not in the mood or I didn't think I can sing," Ai continued. "The only songs I knew were the revolutionary ones. It is the same for many Chinese people; we had to memorize every red song. Creating music is a way to break through that situation."

In a statement, the Art Students League announced that because Ai cannot leave the country, he will most likely accept his award in absentia or via satellite link. 

TagsAi Weiwei, The Fake Case, Art Students League, art