Meile

Over in Lucerne, Meile said strangers were emailing him as well, some with messages that read, "Please forward us a work by Ai Weiwei."

The Art of Resistance Kelly Crow 2011

"Then he started talking," Meile says of the artist, "and I realized he was the only Chinese artist I'd met who could put the country's own traditions up against everything that had happened in the modern artworld."

The Art of Resistance Kelly Crow 2011

On the other hand, Meile, the dealer who called him moments before his arrest, says the artist has spent over three decades embedding elements of his storied past into his artworks.

The Art of Resistance Kelly Crow 2011

Meile says he remembers walking down a narrow alley, or hutong, into a house Ai shared with his mother.

The Art of Resistance Kelly Crow 2011

In 1997, Sigg took Meile, the Swiss dealer, to meet several of these artists, including Ai.

The Art of Resistance Kelly Crow 2011

The website of Ai's Swiss dealer, Galerie Urs Meile, which has a space in Beijing, offers images of his work but mentions nothing about his detention.

Ai Weiwei: the dissident artist 2011

The confused, young. and exhausted SS Oberscharführer Hans Schöndorf Alexander Meile only wants to listen to recordings on the König's gramophone.

George Heymont: The Fabulous Invalid Clings to Life George Heymont 2011

The confused, young. and exhausted SS Oberscharführer Hans Schöndorf Alexander Meile only wants to listen to recordings on the König's gramophone.

George Heymont: The Fabulous Invalid Clings to Life George Heymont 2011

Galerie Urs Meile, which did not respond to a request for comment, will also exhibit in Hong Kong.

Ai Weiwei: the dissident artist 2011

Porcelain, 115 X 115 X 115 cm, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTIFICATION | "Porcelain Cube" 2009 "China is his ready-made," Tinari says.

The Art of Resistance Kelly Crow 2011