A view of an installation as part of the “S.A.C.R.E.D” exhibition by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei during the 55th La Biennale of Venice, in the church of Sant'Antonin in Venice May 28, 2013. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

Chen interacts with his “smart” sеx doll as he lays in a bed in his home in Guangzhou, Guandong Province, China, 05 April 2018. Chen, because of his busy pharmaceutical sales job and the travel it involves, has no time for a girlfriend. Chinese girls all want to talk about marriage after the second date and he is not interested in that for now, he said. (Photo by Aleksandar Plavevski/EPA/EFE)

A worker assembles a sеx doll at the WMDOLL factory in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, China, July 11, 2018. The factory has over 200 full-time workers, all dolls are handmade and each requires the cooperation of at least five workers. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei holds some seeds from his Unilever Installation “Sunflower Seeds” at The Tate Modern on October 11, 2010 in London, England. The sculptural installation comprises 100 million handmade porcelain replica sunflower seeds. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A man admires a sculpture in the series entitled 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads' by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in the courtyard of Somerset House on May 11, 2011 in London, England. The installation comprises of 12 bronze heads of animals which feature in the Chinese zodiac. The artist Ai Weiwei, who is outspoken in his criticism of the Chinese administration, was detained by authorities in Beijing on April 3, 2011 and his whereabouts remain unknown.

“Residents in a small town littered with giant potholes may be ready to “crack” the art world – after turning their massively damaged roads into hilarious masterpieces. Fun-natured drivers from Scranton, Pennsylvania have been challenged by an arts group to turn the ugly craters in their neighborhood into pothole art”. – Caters News. Photo: Cereal bowl pothole. (Photo by Caters News)

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.