The Decade

Page 1

THE LAST DECADE 2004 — 2013


02


Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China.

Qiang: Fallen Blossoms (2010). He also curated the first China

Trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theater Academy, his work has

Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale, 2005, and held the distinguished

since crossed multiple mediums within art, including drawing, installation,

position as Director of Visual and Special Effects for the opening and

video and performance art. While living in Japan from 1986 to 1995, he

closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2012,

explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, an inquiry that

Cai was honored as one of five Laureates for the prestigious Praemium

eventually led to his experimentation with explosives on a massive scale

Imperiale, an award that recognizes lifetime achievement in the arts in

and to the development of his signature explosion events. Drawing upon

categories not covered by the Nobel Prize. Additionally, he was also

Eastern philosophy and contemporary social issues as a conceptual basis,

among the five artists who received the first U.S. Department of State

these projects and events aim to establish an exchange between viewers

- Medal of Arts award for his outstanding commitment to international

and the larger universe around them, utilizing a site-specific approach

cultural exchange. Among his many solo exhibitions and projects include

to culture and history. He currently lives and works in New York. Cai was

Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument, Metropolitan Museum

awarded the Japan Cultural Design Prize in 1995 and the Golden Lion at

of Art, New York, 2006 and his retrospective I Want to Believe, which

the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999. In the following years, he has received

opened at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York in February

the 7th Hiroshima Art Prize (2007), the 20th Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize

2008 before traveling to the National Art Museum of China in Beijing in

(2009), and AICA’s first place for Best Project in a Public Space for Cai Guo-

August 2008 and then to the Guggenheim Bilbao in March 2009.

1957 — PRESENT

Cai Guo-qiang 03

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


In 2011, Cai appeared in the solo exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar, his first ever in a Middle Eastern country. In 2012, the artist appeared in three solo exhibitions: Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder (Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles), Cai Guo-Qiang: Spring (Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China), and A Clan of Boats (Faurschou Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark). His first ever solo exhibition in Brazil, Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo, is currently on view in Brasilia at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil and Museu dos Correios. A three-city exhibition, Da Vincis do Povo will also travel to S達o Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in spring and fall 2013. His next exhibition, Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling Back to Earth will open November 2013 at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art in Australia.

04


Making contemporary art can throw up obstacles but it does not worry me. I am eternally optimistic; I am Chinese. 05

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Bird of Light Private collection, London

Black Fireworks Project for IVAM

Buddha’s Light Collection of the artist

Crocodile and Sun Collection of the artist

Borrowing Your Enemy’s Arrows New York, NY, USA

Bon Voyage: 10,000 Collectables from the Airport Collection of Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris

Furious Tiger Going Down a Mountain Private collection

Crocodile and Man One Project for The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Eagle Landing on Pine Branch Collection of US Department of State

Cry Dragon/Cry Wolf: The Ark of Genghis Khan New York, NY, USA

Howling Wolf Cai Guo-Qiang: Head On Private collection

Head On

Space Holes Collection of the artist

Caressing Zaha with Vodka Commissioned by The Snow Show

Berlin, Germany

Manhattan’s Crocodile Project for the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Inopportune: Stage One North Adams, MA, USA

page 08

page 12

page 14

Dream - Codroipo, Italy God & Goods: Spirituality and Mass Confusion

Wolf and Sun Collection of the artist

page 18

page 20


2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

The Age of Not Believing in God, Bilbao, Spain

Detached Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis

Flying Together Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Childhood Spaceship Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles

Bikini Vendor and Offering of Flowers to Iemanjรก (Sea Goddess) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo

Day and Night

Kites Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis

Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms

Endless Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Mermaid: Project for the 2010 Aichi Triennale Arts and Cities: Aichi Triennale 2010

Test with Toy Firecrackers Desire for Zero Gravity Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles

Strait

For Chen Zhen Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil

Sunshine and Solitude MUAC, Mexico City, 2010

page 24

page 28

page 34

page 36

page 46


08


Inopportune: Stage One Inopportune: Stage One, 2004, and Illusion, 2004, two major works by Cai Guo-Qiang, will be unveiled in SAM’s monumental Forum space when the downtown museum opens May 5-6, 2007. One of the most important and acclaimed artists to have emerged internationally from China, Cai Guo-Qiang was born in Quanzhou in 1957 and later lived in Tokyo, before moving to New York in 1995. The artist initially attracted attention for largescale gunpowder projects, realized at outdoor sites and urban settings worldwide, and for drawings and sculptures inspired by the ancient myths and aesthetic traditions of China, as well as Western technology, science and art. Inopportune: Stage One consists of nine identical white cars outfitted with pulsing colored lights. Suspended from the ceiling of the museum, the cars are composed to create a rising and falling that suggests a repeating cinematic loop, arrested in time and space. The cars will take off from the ground of the Brotman Forum in SAM’s newly constructed North Building, and will land in the South Hall, the museum’s former main entrance, in a colorful sequence. The ninety-second video, Illusion, features a car blowing up while driving through Times Square in New York City, leaving people and buildings unmoved and unharmed because the explosion is a confection—more Hollywood than reality. Complementary works, Inopportune: Stage One and Illusion explore how images and truth are experienced and understood in our unsettled world. The addition of this significant installation by Cai Guo-Qiang to SAM’s collection continues the museum’s commitment to representing global contemporary art of the twentieth and twentyfirst centuries. Cai’s exhibitions have been presented in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Paris, France; Guangzhou, China; Vienna, Austria; Otterloo, the Netherlands; Ghent, Belgium; London, England; and Venice, Italy, among other cities. During the summer of 2006, Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Moment was presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is currently organizing a retrospective exhibition of Cai’s work that will travel to Beijing, China, and Bilbao, Spain.

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum

09


Bird of Light

Bon Voyage: 10,000 Collectables

Caressing Zaha with Vodka

from the Airport Art Type: Drawing

Art Type: Explosion Event

Dimensions: 230 × 375 cm (90.55 × 147.64 in.)

Art Type: Installation

Dimensions: Dimensions variable

Medium: Gunpowder on paper, mounted on

Dimensions: 250 × 700 × 900 cm

Medium: Vodka and industrial strength alcohol,

wood as five-panel screen

(98 7/16 × 275 9/16 × 354 5/16 in.)

set on fire on snow and ice structures

Medium: Scissors, knives, corkscrews and other

Duration: 35 minutes

various sharp objects, woven vines, lights, fans, and fabric

2004

10

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2004


Inopportune: Stage One North Adams, MA, USA Art Type: Installation Dimensions: Dimensions variable Medium: Nine cars and sequenced multichannel light tubes

11

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Black Fireworks: Project for IVAM Art Type: Drawing Dimensions: 240 × 1342 cm (94 1/2 × 528 3/8 in.) overall Medium: Gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as 15-panel screen

12

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2005


Furious Tiger Going Down a Mountain

Howling Wolf

Art Type: Drawing

Art Type: Drawing

Dimensions: 200 × 300 cm

Dimensions: 150 × 200 cm

(78.74 × 118.11 in.)

(59.06 × 78.74 in.)

Medium: Gunpowder on paper

Medium: Gunpowder on paper

13

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Buddha’s Light

Crocodile and Man One:

Head On (2006) - Berlin, Germany

Project for The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Type: Drawing

Art Type: Installation

Dimensions: 230 × 310 cm (90 1/2 × 122 in.)

Art Type: Drawing

Dimensions: Dimensions variable

Medium: Gunpowder on paper, mounted on

Dimensions: 230 × 232.41 × 2.54 cm

Medium: 99 life-sized replicas of wolves and

wood as four-panel screen

(90.55 × 91.5 × 1 in.) overall

glass wall. Wolves: gauze, resin, and painted hide

Medium: Gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as three-panel screen

14

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2006


Manhattan’s Crocodile: Project for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Type: Drawing Dimensions: 230 × 464.82 cm (90 9/16 × 183 in.) overall Medium: Gunpowder on paper mounted on wood as six-panel screen

15

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


16


Head On (2006) Ninety-nine life-like wolves constructed from metal wires with painted sheepskins stuffed with hay and have the appearance to be running in as pack through the length of an empty white room, only to crash headfirst into a glass wall and consequently fall to the ground. Outside of the entryway, six stray wolves casually enter the room where they join more wolves heading in the same direction. Along the length of the wall, the wolves quickly gain momentum and rise in a tight pack into an arc of simulated movement. The wolves are packed closely together, creating the illusion of one long, moving “stream” of wolves. The “stream”, is suspended above the heads of the viewers, moving towards, and finally crashing forcefully, into a Plexiglas wall at the opposite end of the room. The glass panel is only slightly wider than the width of the “stream” of wolves which is approximately four to five wolves wide. Their realistic faces are made of plastic, and they each possess marbles for their dark, lifelike eyes. The expressions on the faces of the wolves, as well as the tension in their bodies, contribute further to the illusion that the wolves are running towards something with deliberation; with their ears laid back, mouths open with their teeth bared and tongues hanging out. The compacted, clean arc of wolves with their bodies elongated and stretching to reach the approaching glass panel is juxtaposed with the disorderly wolf bodies that smash into the wall and lay beneath on the floor, limbs and heads twisted some broken in unnatural positions, beginning to pile on atop of one another. The juxtaposition of the streamlined running wolves with the broken, crumpled, “lifeless” bodies of the wolves, who have met the glass panel head on, is very abrupt. 17

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Crocodile and Sun

Eagle Landing on Pine Branch

Space Holes

Art Type: Drawing

Art Type: Drawing

Art Type: Drawing

Dimensions: 233 × 463.8 cm

Dimensions: 230 × 385 cm

Dimensions: 137.4 × 70 cm (27.56 × 54.09 in.)

(91 3/4 × 182 1/2 in.) overall

(90 9/16 × 151 9/16 in.) overall

Medium: Gunpowder on paper

Medium: Gunpowder on paper, mounted on

Medium: Gunpowder on paper, mounted on

wood as six-panel screen

wood as five-panel screen

18

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2007


Wolf and Sun Art Type: Drawing Dimensions: 147.3 × 246.4 cm (58 × 97 in) Medium: Gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as two-panel screen

19

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Borrowing Your Enemy’s Arrows New York, NY, USA Art Type: Installation Dimensions: Boat: approximately 152.4 × 720 × 230 cm (60 × 283 1/2 × 90 1/2 in.), arrows: approximately 62 cm (24 1/2) each Medium: Wooden boat, canvas sail, arrows, metal, rope, Chinese flag, and electric fan

20

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2008


Cry Dragon/Cry Wolf: The Ark of Genghis Khan

Dream - Codroipo, Italy

New York, NY, USA Art Type: Installation Art Type: Installation

Dimensions: Installation dimensions variable.

Dimensions: Dimensions variable

Silk flag: 10 Ă— 20 m (393.7 Ă— 787.4 in.)

Medium: 108 sheepskin bags, wooden branches,

Medium: Silk flag, silk lanterns, industrial fans,

paddles, rope, three Toyota engines, and

and electric lights

photocopies of various magazine covers and article clippings

21

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Foolish Man and His Mountain Realized projects are like bright fireworks in the sky. Unrealized projects are the dark nights. Both are both parts of the artist’s work. But the dilemma is that when people look up at the sky, they want to see fire flowers, not darkness. Realized works leave behind substantial documentation. After a while, such images begin to replace the memory of the project itself. For this reason, an unrealized project stays with me, paradoxically, much longer - I remember it through the original imagining the work. Tatsumi Masatoshi, my technical assistant, often says, “when it works, it’s an accident; when it doesn’t, it’s the inevitable.”

22


In Australia, I failed miserably on two consecutive occasions. The first

force of the explosions behind me, pushing me forward. We ran all the way

project, for the Asia Pacific Triennale in Brisbane, was called Dragon or

to a nearby highway, and looked back. Explosion after explosion was going

Rainbow Serpent: A Myth Gloried or Feared: Project for Extraterrestrials

off in the factory and spreading onto the lot where we’d been working.

No. 28 (1996). My idea was to detonate gunpowder fuse in mid air. It then

I could see that our work would have passed the quality test: all the fuses

comes down like a bolt of lightening into the water, like serpents through

blew up perfectly with no interruptions, all the way to the edge of the

the river, climbing up onto land, across roads, and finally disappearing

highway. I saw the wife of the company president crying. I asked her where

underneath a bridge - very much like the Rainbow Serpents in the

the bulk of the fireworks was being stored. She suddenly remembered and

Aborigines folklore. Before the opening, we were working on an empty lot

ran back to the lot and drove away the truck that I was working by. After

outside the pyrotechnic company, while the company staff were inside the

the explosions subsided the fire department opened the truck and found it

factory disposing of some unused firework shells from the night before. I

was loaded with three tons of gunpowder. Had it exploded, we would have

was sitting in the shade of a truck, quality-checking our fuse connections,

all perished. She saved her husband too, who was still inside the building.

when I heard Bang! Bang! Bang! from inside the factory. I saw everyone

Though severely burnt all over his body, miraculously he was able to walk

running away from the factory, and I followed. I could feel the heat and

out of the factory alive.

23

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


The Age of Not Believing in God

Day and Night

Bilbao, Spain

Cai Guo-Qiang: Hanging Out in the Museum

Art Type: Installation

Art Type: Drawing

Dimensions: Dimensions variable. Sculptures:

Dimensions: 300 Ă— 3200 cm

height: 80 to 130 cm (31.5 to 51.18 in) each.

Medium: Gunpowder on paper

Medium: Wooden sculptures, arrows: bronze heads, bamboo and feather shaft

24

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2009


Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project

Strait

Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms Art Type: Installation Art Type: Explosion Event

Dimensions: Approximately 100 × 400 × 380 cm

Dimensions: Explosion area (building facade)

Medium: Granite

approximately 18.3 × 26.1 meters Medium: Gunpowder fuse, metal net for gunpowder fuse, scaffolding Duration: 60 seconds

25

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


26


Fallen Blossoms Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2009 Art Type: Explosion Event Dimensions: Explosion area (building facade) approximately 18.3 Ă— 26.1 meters Medium: Gunpowder fuse, metal net for gunpowder fuse, scaffolding Duration: 60 seconds

27

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Detached Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis Art Type: Installation Dimensions: Dimensions variable

28

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2010


Kites Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis Art Type: Installation Dimensions: Dimensions variable Medium: Installation incorporating 49 kites. Silk and bamboo handmade kites, electric fans, video projection

29

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Mermaid: Project for the 2010 Aichi Triennale Art Type: Drawing Dimensions: Approximately 300 Ă— 1600 cm Medium: Gunpowder on paper

30

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2010


31

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


32


Sunshine and Solitude MUAC, Mexico City, 2010 Art Type: Drawing Installation Dimensions: Dimensions variable Medium: Gunpowder on paper, volcanic rocks and 9 Ă— 9000 liters of Mezcal

33

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Flying Together Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab Art Type: Installation Dimensions: Dimensions variable Medium: 27 life-sized replicas of falcons one life-sized replica of camel. Falcons: styrofoam and painted feathers; camel: resin styrofoam, sheep hide

34

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2011


Endless Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab Art Type: Installation Dimensions: Houri boats: 620 × 100 × 56 cm (244 1/16 × 39 3/8 × 22 1/16 in.) each, Chinese boat: 800 × 250 × 180 cm (315 × 98 2/5 × 70 7/8 in.) Medium: Three wooden boats pool of water, wave-making machine, automatic fog machine

35

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Desire for Zero Gravity

Desire for Zero Gravity Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder

The notion of the artist surrendering control of his art (or the illusion of

Art Type: Drawing

such) to “chance” is often seen in contemporary art, but does the usage

Dimensions: 340.36 × 1066.8 cm (134 × 420 in.)

of fireworks and real-time explosions as a means of creation draw the line between creative spontaneity and chaos? This relinquishing of artistic prowess and acceptance of an infinitely more dangerous outcome underscores the exhibit, Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder, now showing at the LA Broad Contemporary Art Museum. The show, which runs until July 30, is the first West Coast solo exhibition by the eponymous Chinese-born artist who is renowned for his unconventional usage of on-canvas explosions and global site-specific pyrotechnic shows. As the child of a traditional artist and a graduate of Shanghai Theatre Academy with a concentration on stage design, Cai merges his Eastern philosophy and theatrically with the Western influences that fueled his childhood fascination with the universe and its elusive forces. Today at LA Broad, three enormous drawings, a hanging installation and private footage of Cai’s artistic process reveal his occupation with gesturing to unknown celestial mysteries. The first drawing in the collection, Chaos in Nature, stands at a staggering 134×500 inches, nearly overtaking the concrete wall. The work features unpredictable natural disasters: tornados, volcanos and earthquakes equally exert their uncontrollable force against each other. Each force incorporates thick, Chinese ink brush painting underneath the rust, bronze and grey remnants of the explosion. Situated next to the work is Desire for Zero Gravity, an image jesting at the impossibility of man’s endeavor to leave the ground. In this case, man’s hubris straddles the line between didacticism (Icarus falling to Earth with 36

melted wings) or a near-sardonic commentary on China’s political leaders (Wan Hu, a government official, catapults himself into the air on a selfmaid rocket chair). Both of these are across from Crop Circles, a hanging installation which, when viewed from ground level, creates an inverted experience as if we as the audience were looking down from the first satellite to capture images of the eerie phenomenon.

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2012

Medium: Gunpowder on canvas


37

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


38


39

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


The Shadow of the Tower Art Type: Drawing Dimensions: 300 × 200 cm (118 1/8 × 78 3/4 in.) Medium: Gunpowder on paper

40


41

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


42


43

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Childhood Spaceship Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder Art Type: Drawing Dimensions: 400 × 3300 cm (157 1/2 × 1299 3/16 in.) Medium: Gunpowder on paper

44

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2012


45

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Test with Toy Firecrackers

For Chen Zhen

Art Type: Drawing

Art Type: Drawing

Dimensions: 200 × 300 cm (78 3/4 × 118 1/8 in.)

Dimensions: 200 × 300 cm (78 3/4 × 118 1/8 in.)

Medium: Gunpowder on paper

Medium: Gunpowder on paper

46

Cai Guo-Qiang: 2013


Bikini Vendor and Offering of Flowers to Iemanjá (Sea Goddess) Art Type: Drawing Dimensions: 200 × 300 cm (78 3/4 × 118 1/8 in.) Medium: Gunpowder on paper

47

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


48


The main purpose in making art is to have fun and to redefine the nature of objects. Where are the limits when an object becomes a work of art?

49

LA BROAD Contemporary Art Museum


Inopportune: Stage One Exploding Car No. 2 (2004) Cai Guo-Qiang: Inopportune Collection of the artist Inopportune: Stage One Exploding Car No. 3 (2004) Cai Guo-Qiang: Inopportune Collection of the artist Bird of Light (2004) Private collection, London BMOCA: 18 Solo Exhibitions (2004) BMOCA: 18 Solo Exhibitions

Flag (2005) Cai Guo-Qiang: Paradise Private collection Flying Carpet (2005) - Herford, Germany Collection of MARTa Herford

Clear Sky Black Cloud (2006) Collection of the artist Clear Sky Black Cloud (2006) Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument Commissioned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art Crocodile and Sun (2007) Collection of the artist

Inopportune: Stage Two (2004) North Adams, MA, USA Cai Guo-Qiang: Inopportune Collection of Kröller-Müller Museum Man, Eye, Eagle in the Sky (2004) Movement Cultivates Vitality (2004) Nine Cars (2004)

Furious Tiger (2005) Private collection

Painting Chinese Landscape Painting (2004) Past in Reverse: Contemporary Art of East Asia Collection of the artist Bon Voyage: 10,000 Collectables from the Airport (2004) Collection of Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris Caressing Zaha with Vodka (2004) Commissioned by The Snow Show Fireworks from Heaven (2004) Paris, France

Eagle Landing on Pine Branch (2007) Collection of US Department of State. Art In Embassies Program Crocodile and Man One: Project for The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument (2006) Collection of the artist

Alligator (2005) Collection of the artist Art Shopping Network (2005) Trading Place: Contemporary Art Museum Auto-Destruct (2005) (my private) Heroes

Howling Wolf Cai Guo-Qiang: Head On (2006) Private collection

Illusion (2004) - North Adams, MA, USA Collection of Seattle Art Museum Black Fireworks: Project for IVAM Cai Guo-Qiang: On Black Fireworks (2005) Collection of the artist Black Rainbow: Explosion Project for Edinburgh (2005) Cai Guo-Qiang: Life Beneath the Shadow

Inopportune: Stage One (2004) North Adams, MA, USA Inopportune: Stage One Exploding Car No. 1 (2004) Cai Guo-Qiang: Inopportune Collection of the artist

Dark Night Edinburgh (2005) Cai Guo-Qiang: Life Beneath the Shadow Dream (2005) - Waltham, MA, USA DreamingNow Collection of the artist Fireworks and Man (2005) Collection of the artist

Buddha’s Light (2006) Collection of the artist Captured Wind Arrested Shadow (2006) Cai Guo-Qiang and Lin Hwai-min’s Wind Shadow Chun Qiu: Bygones Project for the New (2006) Galleries of Suzhou Museum Chun Qiu: Project for the New Galleries of Suzhou Museum (2006) Invited by I.M. Pei

Crocodile and Man Two: Project for The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument (2006) Private collection Crocodile from the Sky: Project for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2006) Collection of Taikang Life Insurance Descending Wolves: For the Guggenheim International Gala Private Collection Distant View of San Gimignano from the Stage (2006) Private collection, Florence, Italy Dreams Along the Stairway (2006) Hearst Corporation, New York Exploding House: Project for Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2006) Collection of the artist

Inopportune: Stage One (2007) Seattle, WA, USA Cai Guo-Qiang: Inopportune: Stage One Seattle Art Museum Light Passage--Autumn (2007) Light Passage: Cai Guo-Qiang & Shiseidō Collection of the artist Light Passage--Spring (2007) Light Passage: Cai Guo-Qiang & Shiseidō Collection of the artist Light Passage--Summer (2007) Light Passage: Cai Guo-Qiang & Shiseidō Collection of the artist Light Passage--Winter (2007) Light Passage: Cai Guo-Qiang & Shiseidō Collection of the artist One Stone (2007) The City of New York. Percent for Art Program Commission Pine Tree and Eagle (2007) Collection of the artist


Black Fireworks: Project for Hiroshima The 7th Hiroshima Art Prize (2008) Commissioned by Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art

Drawing for Footprints of History (2008) Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe (New York, USA) Collection of the artist

Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project (2009) Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms Dream (2008) - Codroipo, Italy God & Goods: Spirituality and Mass Confusion; Collection of the artist

Countdown (2008) Fireworks Project for the Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project (Video Documentation) (2009) Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms Collection of the artist Fireworks Project for China’s 60th National Day Celebration (2009) 60th Anniversary Celebration of the People’s Republic of China Head On (2009) - Bilbao, Spain Deutsche Bank Collection Inopportune: Stage Two (2009) Taipei, Taiwan

Space Holes (2007) Collection of the artist

Bilbao’s Rent Collection Courtyard (2009) Meeting Point: 10th Havana Biennial (2009) Steel armature: Cai Guo-Qiang Collection

Another New Year (2008) Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe (New York, USA) Arbitrary History: Infinite River, An (2008) Beijing, China Arbitrary History: River, An (2008) New York, NY, USA

Detached (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis Fairytale (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis Head On (2010) - Singapore Cai Guo-Qiang: Head On (2010) Deutsche Bank Collection Illusion (2010) The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age: 17th Biennale of Sydney Collection of Seattle Art Museum

Light Passage (2009) Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms Collection of the artist Age of Not Believing in God, The (2009) Bilbao, Spain

Wolf and Sun (2007) Collection of the artist

Color Still (2010) Kiki Smith: Color Still Complex (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis

Borrowing Your Enemy’s Arrows (2008) New York, NY, USA Closing Rainbow (2008) Fireworks Project for the Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Everything Is Museum (2009) Bilbao

Cry Dragon/Cry Wolf: The Ark of Genghis Khan (2008) New York, NY, USA

Moving Garden (2009) The Sky within My House. Contemporary Art in 16 Patios of Cordoba Reflection–A Gift from Iwaki (2009) Bilbao, Spain

Cultural Melting Bath: Project for the 20th Century (2009) Taipei

Kites (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis

Mermaid: Project for the 2010 Aichi Triennale (2010) Arts and Cities: Aichi Triennale 2010

Danger Book: Suicide Fireworks Collection of the artist

Milestones (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis

Dragon: Explosion on Pleats Please Issey Miyake (2008)

Monument (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis Day and Night (2009) Strait (2009)

Never Learned How to Land (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis


Odyssey (2010) Commissioned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for the Ting Childhood Spaceship (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles

One Thousand Youngsters Drawing David Post Monument (2010) Peasants - Making a Better City, a Better Life (2010) Cai Guo-Qiang: Peasant da Vincis

Church and Warship Model (2012) A Clan of Boats

Reflection–A Gift from Iwaki (2010) Nice, France

Classical Painting Impression (2012)

Republic of China Centennial (2010) Commissioned by Council for Cultural Affairs, Republic of China

Crop Circles (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles

A Cure When Ill, A Supplement When Healthy (2011) Oslo, Netherlands Al Shaqab (2011) Commissioned by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art Black Ceremony (2011) Commissioned by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Flying Together (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Bikini Vendor and Offering of Flowers to Iemanjá (Sea Goddess) (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do (2013) Povo Comic Book

Frenzy of Flowers (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Candomblé (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil

Desert Hues (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art Drawing for Black Ceremony (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Homecoming (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art Black Christmas Tree (2012): Explosion Event for Washington, D.C. Boatyard (2012) A Clan of Boats Chaos in Nature (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles

Flora on Porcelain (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Deer and Pine Trees (2012) Collection of Asia Art Center in Taiwan

For Chen Zhen (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil

Fragile (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Frieze (2011) Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Endless (2011) Collection of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Alberto Santos - Dumont (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil

Desire for Zero Gravity (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles Freja: Explosion Event for Faurschou Foundation (2012) Jiani No. 1 (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Spring Jiani No. 2 (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Spring Jiani No. 3 (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Spring Jiani No. 4 (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Spring Leifeng Tower (2012) Cai Guo-Qiang: Spring Munch Fantasy No. 1 (2012) A Clan of Boats Collection of the artist, commissioned by Faurschou Foundation

Hat Vendor on the Beach (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil Invention (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil Milestones (2013) - Brasilia, Brazil Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo

Carnival Rehearsal (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist Complex (2013) - Brasilia, Brazil Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist Corcovado and Fantasia (2013) Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist, commissioned by Banco do Brasil Fairytale (2013) - Brasilia, Brazil Cai Guo-Qiang: Da Vincis do Povo Collection of the artist

Test with Toy Firecrackers (2013)



Catalog designed by Justin Chen TYPE 04 PRINT SPRING 2013 Art Center College of Design 1700 Lida Street Pasadena, CA 91101 USA All rights reserved to Cai Guo-qiang Photography by Cai Studio, New York


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.