Chinese artist and government critic Ai Weiwei is to challenge a bill of more than 12m yuan ($1.9m, £1.2m) in unpaid taxes and fines, his wife told the BBC. — bbc.co.uk

Beijing police said they had released the 54-year-old "because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes" and a chronic illness, Xinhua news agency reported. — guardian.co.uk

Forget petitions: art professionals are showing their support for detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in increasingly creative ways. Last week, Milwaukee-based Mike Brenner shaved his head into a style reminiscent of Ai's outside the Milwaukee Art Museum as a show of support for the artist, who has been missing for over two months. — artinfo.com

It’s in no country’s interest to have such a renown and creative citizen behind bars. It is particularly awkward for China’s rulers to oppress the man who designed the venue for their coming out party. Moreover, in its quest to climb the economic value chain and provide its millions of new graduates with jobs, China is at a moment where it needs to embrace creativity, to innovate and to develop the arts, entertainment and other high-value sectors. — globalpost.com

FAT Lab member Greg Leuch’s browser plugins have been mainly whimsical (abolishing mentions of folks like Justin Bieber and Charlie Sheen), but now, the developer has gone political with the release of China Blocker. It serves as a protest against the detainment of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. — mashable.com

Ai’s family said that police had never informed them about the charges before the Xinhua report. Ai’s sister, Gao Ge, said, “Fa-Ke Cultural is not Ai Weiwei’s company, and the police have not met with the company’s legal representative.” According to Hong Kong media Apple Daily, the company is registered and belongs to Ai’s wife, Lu Qing. — Epoch Times

One of Ai Weiwei’s better known works is “Study of Perspective,” a series of first-person photographs in which the artist gives the finger to various landmarks around the world, including the Forbidden City. A Cuban artist recently made a similar gesture, projecting a massive portrait of Mr. Ai along the side of the Chinese consulate building in New York City. — blogs.wsj.com

Kapoor, who dedicated his latest work "Leviathan" to Ai, wrote in The Times: "When governments silence artists it bears witness to their barbarity." — news.yahoo.com

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed to learn that a journalist at Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper in China is facing punishment after he penned a May 12 editorial that obliquely endorsed the actions of detained artist Ai Weiwei. — scoop.co.nz

The attorney and family friend, Liu Xiaoyuan, said he had met on Monday with Lu Qing and that she said her husband appeared to be in good physical condition. Mr. Ai also asked about the health of his mother and family, he said, but the circumstance of the supervised visit offered no chance to discuss how his captors were treating him or other details of his confinement. — NYTimes.com

The museum said it will hold a silent protest in support of Ai on Thursday at its downtown location. A spokeswoman said that the 24-hour protest will start 11 a.m. on Thursday and continue through 11 a.m. the next day. Volunteer participants will occupy two traditionally styled Chinese chairs for one-hour periods. — latimesblogs.latimes.com

The Chinese government said on Tuesday it was "unhappy" with foreign support for detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei, after Ai's detention last week sparked an outcry from Washington and other Western governments. — Reuters

Twelve 363kg (800lb) bronze animal heads have gone on display in the historic courtyard of Somerset House in London , the first contemporary sculpture to be featured there. The artist responsible, Ai Weiwei, was the missing element, his wellbeing and whereabouts still unknown after he was detained by Chinese authorities on 3 April. — guardian.co.uk

Ai is a fire and ice personality. The ice is in the impossibly self-confident impresario who has become a hero of the global art world with his elegant appropriations and deconstructions of China’s cultural heritage. — The New Republic