With both Democrat and Republican presidential candidates taking big anti-China stances in this election, it is almost jarring that a Chinese artist has managed to have a succinctly "American" exhibition this fall.

The current show of work by Chinese dissident-artist Ai Weiwei at Washington's Hirshhorn Museum embodies soundly democratic ideals.

Individual freedom, specifically freedom of speech, has long been the social media-loving artist's focus personally, politically and artistically.

At the Hirshhorn, a pile of spindly poles represents the thousands of children lost in the deadly 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Ai Weiwei blamed the Chinese government for allowing the faulty construction of school buildings.

"The tragic reality of today is reflected in the plight of our spiritual existence: we are spineless and can not stand straight," a museum wall label quotes the artist in this first North American survey exhibition of his work.

Imprisoned by Chinese officials last year, often censored in his homeland, and a provocateur who has challenged the US and Chinese governments, Beijing-based Ai Weiwei wrote for CNN of the universals he sees:

"The people in both nations share a sense of hopelessness; they feel empowered and disappointed at the same time but on different matters. No matter the country or system, it's clear that the relationship between the masses and their leaders must be transformed."

Encompassing sculpture, photography, installation, video and audio work, "Ai Weiwei: According to What?" is on view at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum through Feb. 24, 2013.