2014
Gunpowder on Paper
202 x 306 cm
Signed Cai in Chinese and English, titled in Chinese, inscribed Shanghai in Chinese, PS4 and dated 2014
Estimate TWD 23,000,000-30,000,000
USD 754,600-984,300
HKD 0-0
Hammer Price TWD 29,600,000
USD 972,724
HKD 7,830,688
With a certificate of authenticity from gallery
Provenance：1.Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2. Ravenel Autumn Auction, Taipei, Taiwan, December 2nd, 2018, LOT 218 3. Private Collection, Asia
Illustrated：
Exhibition：
Exposition：
"I love the danger involved when creating with gunpowder, it excites me greatly. Different gunpowder compositions produce varying explosion speeds, sounds, and create different levels of spectacular sights. This unpredictable variability is fascinating. Perhaps it's my enthusiasm for this danger that leads me to paint in such a strange way..." - Cai Guo-Qiang
Cai Guoqiang, born in Quanzhou, Fujian Province in 1957, graduated from the Stage Design Department of Shanghai Theater Academy before going to Japan to further his studies in 1986. His artistic career has spanned across major international exhibitions, with over 30 solo shows hosted in world-renowned art venues. Cai has been honored with the Grand Prize at the 46th and 48th Venice Biennale, as well as the American Medal of Arts and the Takamatsu Palace Memorial World Cultural Award in 2012. His artistic accomplishments have been widely recognized internationally.
Not only has Cai published his works in prominent art museums and international events around the world, but he has also collaborated with scientists, fashion designers, architects, composers, dancers, and film directors as a member of the core creative team for the opening and closing ceremonies, and as a chief visual effects art designer. His artistic expression spans across various contemporary avant-garde art areas, such as installation art, performance art, conceptual art, multimedia art, and more. Cai has emerged as one of the most influential and pioneering artists in the international contemporary art scene, and has been named by the authoritative art magazine "ArtReview" as one of the 100 most influential figures in the art world for many years in a row.
Cai Guoqiang's unique approach to contemporary art is through the use of gunpowder explosions as a medium of expression. This unconventional material and process sets his work apart from the usual Eastern and Western art forms, freeing it from any direct ties to a particular art-historical period.
The artist's love for sparks can be traced back to his childhood when his father's bookstore was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In an interview, Cai Guoqiang recounted, "My father was the manager of an ancient bookstore after the liberation of China in 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, most of the rare book pages containing traditional ink painting and calligraphy were burned to ashes in a fire that raged through the night." This tragic event inspired Cai's fascination with fire and sparks, which he channels into his work today. As Cai Guoqiang watched the flames slowly consume the handmade paper, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the beauty of destruction. The ashes of the paper drifted into the night sky with green smoke, creating a "transient beauty" that would later inspire his obsession with fireworks and influence his future creative endeavors.
Cai Guoqiang's gunpowder sketches and blasting projects convey his belief that by intervening in natural forces, an artist can create a connection between the chaotic states of the primitive and the modern. The moment of explosion becomes a visual representation of this chaotic state, and his work showcases his interest in the relationship between matter and energy. In his pieces, matter (gunpowder) explodes into energy, transforming burnt objects into a new form. These works serve as records of time, process, and transformation. Through his art, Cai Guoqiang explores the beauty and potential of destruction, creating pieces that not only captivate the eye but also challenge the viewer's perception of the world around them.
This magnificent work, "Yellow and White Peonies", completed in 2010, is a stunning testament to the power and beauty of Cai Guoqiang's art. In the center of the exquisite picture, two peonies stand facing each other in a graceful posture of opening and closing. Their symbolic language reminds us of the traditional flower language, where each flower carries a special meaning. The radiant yellow peony connotes wealth, elegance, and good fortune, while the majestic white peony exudes purity, warmth, and nobility. Together, the yellow and white peonies complement each other beautifully in their open and close dance, signifying a propitious omen in Feng Shui, a cherished belief in Chinese culture. The blooming flowers exude a dazzling energy that illuminates their surroundings and evokes admiration. Their towering presence is a testament to their resilience, passion, and hope. Through this masterful work, Cai Guoqiang captures the essence of these magnificent flowers with his artistry. Despite the inherent danger and unpredictability of the gunpowder medium, Cai has created a work of enduring beauty and celebrating the poetry of life.
Cai Guoqiang's use of gunpowder as a medium for his art is indeed unique and unconventional. By relinquishing control over the explosive process, he creates a sense of spontaneity and unpredictability in his works, which is not achievable through traditional painting techniques. This creates an interesting dialogue between the artist, the materials, and the natural forces at play. His works also embody a certain sense of transience, capturing the fleeting beauty that emerges in the moment before destruction. This sense of ephemerality is reminiscent of traditional Chinese philosophy, which values impermanence and the cycles of birth and decay in nature. Overall, Cai Guoqiang's use of gunpowder as a medium opens up new possibilities for artistic expression and encourages viewers to consider the interplay between destruction and creation, chaos and order.
As a student, Cai Guoqiang began his experiments with gunpowder paintings. During his time at the Shanghai Theater Academy in the early 1980s, he was already searching for unique tools to create art. That's when he came up with the idea of painting with "fire." Initially, he used tools that were easy to control, but soon he realized that the picture still felt too controlled by him. That's when he discovered the method of painting with gunpowder. Gunpowder has the explosive power to blast away all the heavy elements at once. Meanwhile, paper, although seemingly soft, can absorb light and heat within itself. After the gunpowder disappears, the remaining traces reveal a transformed substance. The explosion creates various accidental effects on the paper, which turns the picture into an "active" representation, opening up a vivid dialogue between the artist and the artwork. Regarding this creative method, Cai Guoqiang explained, "The explosion produces a strong feeling at the very core of yourself. Although you can arrange the explosives arbitrarily, you cannot control the explosive itself. This will give you a great sense of freedom."
Cai Guoqiang's artistry mirrors the character of Icarus in Greek mythology, imbued with stubbornness and innocence. The explosion of his fireworks represents the beauty that blooms just before being burned. That brief moment, suffused with a sense of magic, becomes a legend in its own right. Cai Guoqiang's use of the accidental effects of gunpowder explosions enabled him to challenge and subvert traditional artistic conventions. By harnessing the magic of these unpredictable materials, he was able to create works that transcended the boundaries of time, space, and human emotion. In doing so, he forged a link between history and culture, reason and intuition, and the self and the other. This approach to art is markedly different from that of Western contemporary artists, as Fei Dawei, a prominent Chinese art critic and planner, noted. By playing with traditional Chinese culture, Cai Guoqiang has created a channel of creative freedom that has breathed new life into contemporary art and left an indelible mark on the art world of the 1990s.
View More Works