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Cai Guo-Qiang (蔡国强)
Biography
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China, and lives and works in New York. He
studied stage design at the Shanghai Drama Institute from 1981 to 1985 and attended the Institute for
Contemporary Art: The National and International Studio Program at P.S. 1, New York. His work is both scholarly
and politically charged. Accomplished in a variety of media, Cai began using gunpowder in his work to foster
spontaneity and confront the controlled artistic tradition and social climate in China. While living in Japan from
1986 to 1995 he explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, leading to the development of his
signature explosion events. These projects, while poetic and ambitious at their core, aim to establish an exchange
between viewers and the larger universe. For his work, Cai draws on a wide variety of materials, symbols,
narratives, and traditions—elements of feng shui, Chinese medicine and philosophy, images of dragons and
tigers, roller coasters, computers, vending machines, and gunpowder. Since September 11th he has reflected
upon his use of explosives both as metaphor and material. “Why is it important,” he asks, “to make these violent
explosions beautiful? Because the artist, like an alchemist, has the ability to transform certain energies, using
poison against poison, using dirt and getting gold.” Cai Guo-Qiang's Set of Fourteen Drawings for Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation made using gunpowder became the most expensive works of
contemporary Asian art to be sold (US $9.5 million) at auction in 2007. Cai Guo-Qiang has received a
number of awards including the 48th Venice Biennale International Golden Lion Prize and the CalArts/Alpert
Award in the Arts. Among his many solo exhibitions and projects are "Light Cycle: Explosion Project for Central
Park," New York; "Ye Gong Hao Long: Explosion Project for Tate Modern," London; "Transient Rainbow," Museum
of Modern Art, New York; "Cai Guo-Qiang," Shanghai Art Museum; and "APEC Cityscape Fireworks Show," Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation, Shanghai. His work has appeared in group exhibitions including, among others,
the São Paulo Bienale (2004); Whitney Biennial (2000); and three Venice Biennales. In 2008, he has a large-
scale mid-career retrospective "I Want To Believe" at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, scheduled to travel
to the Beijing Museum in Beijing and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. He also gained widespread attention for
organizing a fireworks show to mark the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A major exhibition
featuring the works of Cai Guoqiang will be held at the National Art Museum in Beijing beginning during the
Olympics, on Aug. 19 and running through September 2, 2008. The works shown will include some iconic art
piece that were shown at the Guggenheim show in New York this year.
Website: www.caiguoqiang.com
Biography
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China, and lives and works in New York. He
studied stage design at the Shanghai Drama Institute from 1981 to 1985 and attended the Institute for
Contemporary Art: The National and International Studio Program at P.S. 1, New York. His work is both scholarly
and politically charged. Accomplished in a variety of media, Cai began using gunpowder in his work to foster
spontaneity and confront the controlled artistic tradition and social climate in China. While living in Japan from
1986 to 1995 he explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, leading to the development of his
signature explosion events. These projects, while poetic and ambitious at their core, aim to establish an exchange
between viewers and the larger universe. For his work, Cai draws on a wide variety of materials, symbols,
narratives, and traditions—elements of feng shui, Chinese medicine and philosophy, images of dragons and
tigers, roller coasters, computers, vending machines, and gunpowder. Since September 11th he has reflected
upon his use of explosives both as metaphor and material. “Why is it important,” he asks, “to make these violent
explosions beautiful? Because the artist, like an alchemist, has the ability to transform certain energies, using
poison against poison, using dirt and getting gold.” Cai Guo-Qiang's Set of Fourteen Drawings for Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation made using gunpowder became the most expensive works of
contemporary Asian art to be sold (US $9.5 million) at auction in 2007. Cai Guo-Qiang has received a
number of awards including the 48th Venice Biennale International Golden Lion Prize and the CalArts/Alpert
Award in the Arts. Among his many solo exhibitions and projects are "Light Cycle: Explosion Project for Central
Park," New York; "Ye Gong Hao Long: Explosion Project for Tate Modern," London; "Transient Rainbow," Museum
of Modern Art, New York; "Cai Guo-Qiang," Shanghai Art Museum; and "APEC Cityscape Fireworks Show," Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation, Shanghai. His work has appeared in group exhibitions including, among others,
the São Paulo Bienale (2004); Whitney Biennial (2000); and three Venice Biennales. In 2008, he has a large-
scale mid-career retrospective "I Want To Believe" at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, scheduled to travel
to the Beijing Museum in Beijing and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. He also gained widespread attention for
organizing a fireworks show to mark the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A major exhibition
featuring the works of Cai Guoqiang will be held at the National Art Museum in Beijing beginning during the
Olympics, on Aug. 19 and running through September 2, 2008. The works shown will include some iconic art
piece that were shown at the Guggenheim show in New York this year.
Website: www.caiguoqiang.com
