Falling down to Earth
Born in 1957, Cai Guo Qiang is considered to be one of the top ten contemporary artists in today’s society. Originating in China, his work is worldwide, reflecting on both the history and current events that have concerned Cai. As a teenager, after witnessing the effects of the Cultural Revolution, he participated in demonstrations and parades himself. He was raised in a setting where explosions’ occurred weather as a result of a cannon blasting or celebratory fireworks. The 56 year old has been known since the early 1990’s, creating large-scale works, which primarily involved the use ‘gunpowder’ and ‘fireworks’, influenced from his childhood, as well as many other interesting installations placed in museums around the world.
Within the last 25 years Cai Guo Qiang has cooperated with the most prestigious art institutions in the world, which includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R Guggenheim museum in New York. In his newest solo exhibitions, Cai Guo Qiang’s ‘falling back to Earth’ features four installations, which includes two artworks inspired by the countryside of Southeast Queensland, where the artist visited in 2011. Falling back to Earth is the single largest artist show produced ever produced for QAGOMA, which introduces 3 works from the artist.
The most famous artwork in this exhibition features- Heritage 2013- including replicas of 99 artificial animals from around the world all gathered to drink from a lake surrounded by white sand. The second installation – Eucalyptus- relates to the ancient trees of Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast hinterland. The third remarkable installation, Head On 2006, has been on display for the first time in Australia, featuring 99 wolves leaping through the air into a glass wall.
His work is known to be quite dangerous as proven in 1996 when an accidental explosion at a local factory destroyed Cai’s work, which ultimately forced the cancellation of his project the previous night.
Within the last 25 years Cai Guo Qiang has cooperated with the most prestigious art institutions in the world, which includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R Guggenheim museum in New York. In his newest solo exhibitions, Cai Guo Qiang’s ‘falling back to Earth’ features four installations, which includes two artworks inspired by the countryside of Southeast Queensland, where the artist visited in 2011. Falling back to Earth is the single largest artist show produced ever produced for QAGOMA, which introduces 3 works from the artist.
The most famous artwork in this exhibition features- Heritage 2013- including replicas of 99 artificial animals from around the world all gathered to drink from a lake surrounded by white sand. The second installation – Eucalyptus- relates to the ancient trees of Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast hinterland. The third remarkable installation, Head On 2006, has been on display for the first time in Australia, featuring 99 wolves leaping through the air into a glass wall.
His work is known to be quite dangerous as proven in 1996 when an accidental explosion at a local factory destroyed Cai’s work, which ultimately forced the cancellation of his project the previous night.