Energy Study, 2022

Gunpowder on paper

14.375 x 11 in. (36.5 x 28 cm)

Framed dimensions: 23.125 x 19.25 in. (58.7 x 48.9 cm)

Unique

Cai Guo-Qiang
(b. 1957, Quanzhou, China. Lives and works in New York, NY)

Cai Guo-Qiang's renowned practice spans diverse mediums including drawing, painting, installation, video, and performance art. He first began experimenting with his signature gunpowder paintings in Quanzhou, China, and continued evolving his practice to include his now iconic outdoor explosion events during the artist's time in Japan from 1986 to 1995, before moving to New York. Drawing upon Eastern philosophy and contemporary social issues as a conceptual basis, Cai's often site-specific artworks respond to the local culture and history and establish a dialogue between viewers and the larger universe around them. Energy Study, 2022, is a dynamic example of Cai's ability to masterfully harness the potentially destructive power of gunpowder to create beauty out of chaos.

Cai has been the subject of numerous international solo exhibitions and career retrospectives at venues including: National Art Center, Tokyo (2023); Palace Museum, Beijing (2020); Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow (2017); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2012); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2008); and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2006), among many others. He is included in numerous international museum collections such as the Fondation Cartier, Paris; Metropolitan Museum, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Tate, London, to name a few. Cai was the recipient of a Golden Lion at the 48th Venice Biennale and served as Director of Visual and Special Effects for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2015, the artist's explosion event Sky Ladder became the centerpiece of an eponymous Netflix documentary, directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald.