ZHONG CHENG

  • Zhong Cheng 2017 Autumn Auction「Morden And Contemporary Art」
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    CAI GUOQIANG (b.1957)

    Tiger and Eagle

    2005

    Gunpower and Ink on Paper
    300x400cm

    Titled in Chinese, and signed Cai Guo-Qiang in Chinese and English, dated 2005

    Estimate TWD 23,000,000-36,000,000
    USD 763,100-1,194,400
    HKD 0-0

    Hammer Price TWD 27,360,000
    USD 915,050
    HKD 7,200,000

Provenance：PROVENANCE: Sotheby\\\'s Hong Kong, 2013 40th Anniversary Evening Sale, Lot 63

Illustrated：

Exhibition：EXHIBITION: \\\'\\\'Cai Guo-Qiang,\\\'\\\' Eslite Gallery, Taipei Taiwan, December, 2005

Exposition：

Cai Guo-Qiang was born in Quanzhou, Fujian Province in 1957. He graduated from the Department of Theater Art, Shanghai Theater Academy and left for Japan for further education in 1986. He had attended almost all major international awards and held over 30 solo exhibitions in world renowned institutions. He won major titles at the 46th and 48th Venice Biennale. In 2012, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from the United States as well as Praemium Imperiale in Japan. His achievements in art are acknowledged worldwide. In addition to showcasing his work in top art museums and international events, Cai also conducts interdisciplinary collaborations with scientists, fashion designers, architects, composers, dancers and film directors. For instance, he was the art director in charge of visual effects, and a member of the core creative team for the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He works on the most Avant-garde, including installation art, performance art, conceptual art, and multi-media art. Among the contemporary artists, he is one of the most recognized and pioneering. He was consistently chosen by Art Review magazine as one of the most influential people in the circle of art. 

Tiger and Eagle demonstrates Cai’s masterful control and artistry over the power, energy and appeal of gunpowder on paper. He broke free from the traditional Chinese painting philosophy of capturing the spirit with form, while creating abstract images with the spontaneity of explosives. Lines formed with ashes radiate from the lower left, like a tiger roaring with fierceness. Blocks of spectacular brown from the burnt gunpowder surge, as though a crouching tiger is emanating stunning royal magnificence. On the upper right, the eagle circles with wings wide spread. Forces from the exploding gunpowder blast evenly in all directions. The energy transforms into the inconceivable. The eagle is ready to combat, eyeing ferociously at the tiger below. The image is so real that it was as if a genuine eagle is coming alive. Cai attempts to abandon the conservative approaches by creating form with spontaneous explosion. The serendipitous and mesmerizing medium blasts a tunnel through time and space, while tearing down barriers between human hearts, where history and culture, sense and sensibility, as well as self and other encounter. Contemporary art critic and curator from China, Fei Dawei once said, “Examining Cai’s entire body of works comprehensively, it appears that he took a path utterly different from contemporary Western art, even mocking Chinese tradition. However, the playful game unexpectedly initiated a path to freedom, bringing a breath of fresh air to contemporary art in the 90s.”

 

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