For additional exhibitions, please see our Calendar
Cai unveils large-scale installation in Kyoto
Dates: August 19 – October 15, 2017
Location: Nijo Castle, Kyoto Art Center
On August 19, artist Cai Guo-Qiang introduces Bonsai Ship, a visually spectacular installation created for the UNESCO World Heritage Site Nijo Castle, as part of the Asia Corridor Contemporary Art Exhibition within Culture City of East Asia 2017 Kyoto. Towering in the Central Courtyard of Nijo Castle's palace grounds, Bonsai Ship at once harmonizes with and stands distinct from the surrounding 17th-century architecture. The pines and boulders were carefully selected for their resemblance to landscapes in shanshui ink wash painting, an ancient Chinese artistic tradition that later expanded to Japan and Korea. The installation thus utilizes the imagination and formal expression of contemporary art, while at the same time humorously evoking the history and present state of East Asia.
Bonsai Ship, 2017. Photo by Tatsumi Masatoshi, courtesy of Cai Studio
"Cai Guo-Qiang: Fireflies" To Light Up Philadelphia
Dates: September 14 – October 8, 2017; Thursdays through Sundays for 4 hours each night
Location: Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
In September, the Association for Public Art (aPA) in Philadelphia presents a major new site-specific work by the internationally acclaimed artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Commissioned by aPA with Fung Collaboratives on the occasion of the centennial of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Cai Guo-Qiang: Fireflies invites the public to actively experience the grand boulevard as a nocturnal dreamscape conjured from the languorous movements of bobbing clusters of glowing handcrafted Chinese lanterns and groups of customized peddle vehicles.
Fireflies, digital rendering, 2016. Courtesy of Cai Studio
Announcing “Cai Guo-Qiang: October” at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow
Dates: September 12 – November 12, 2017
Venue: The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts main building (Volkhonka, 12, Moscow, Russia)
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will present contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang’s first solo exhibition in Russia this September: Cai Guo-Qiang: October. A reflection on the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the ambitious body of work originally created for the exhibition will transform the main exhibition areas of the museum. Artworks include large-scale outdoor and indoor installations, gunpowder paintings, a multi-media video installation, and small-scale sculptures and sketches.
October, calligraphy by Cai Guo-Qiang , 2017. Courtesy of Cai Studio
Cai Guo-Qiang Solo Exhibition at the Prado Museum: Exploring the Spirit of Painting
Dates: October 24, 2017 - March 4, 2018
Venue: Prado Museum
The Prado Museum announces a solo exhibition by contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Cai Guo-Qiang at the Prado: The Spirit of Painting will be open from October 24, 2017 to March 4, 2018. This will be the second solo exhibition by a living artist since the museum’s founding in 1819, following an exhibition by the late Cy Twombly organized in 2008. The Spirit of Painting is co-curated by the museum’s director Miguel Zugaza and senior curator Alejandro Vergara.
Cai Guo-Qiang, Last Carnival, 2017. Gunpowder on canvas, 280 x 750 cm.
Photo by Yvonne Zhao, courtesy Cai Studio
"Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang" releases on Netflix
Netflix Launching Date: October 14, 2016
In his latest feature documentary, Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (One Day In September, The Last King Of Scotland) has unfettered access to world-renowned contemporary artist, Cai Guo-Qiang. Told through the artist’s own words and those of family, friends, colleagues, and critics, Sky Ladder traces Cai’s meteoric rise from childhood in Mao’s China to pre-eminent global artist. We witness as Cai struggles with how to affect social change through art, and navigate the compromises and complexities that arise when you’ve made it to the top. When you’ve gone as far as he has, how do you challenge yourself?
Watch on Netflix.com