+ all of the above

Cai Guo-Qiang has a mid-career retrospective currently on display at the Guggenheim in New York City.

This is something that really has to be seen and experienced. So if you can make it to the Guggenheim before the end of May then you really should go, rather than reading about it or watching any of the videos or photos that just will not do it justice. However, if you can’t then here are some pictures and some links, along with a few thoughts of mine.

Cai Guo-Qiang makes incredible use of the very unique space in the Guggenheim. This is quite an achievement considering how intimidating the area must be for an artist to exhibit in. However Cai succeeds in making us believe that it is the most perfect space for his work, and is nothing if not ambitious. I’ve often found that an iconic exhibition space comes at the cost of an ideal place to view the artwork within and I think that the Guggenheim is an example of this (Please don’t kill me Frank Lloyd Wright groupies), the relationship between the artist/architect and the artist/exhibitor is often tenuous at best. Right from the very beginning however, Cai Guo-Qiang melds seamlessly with the space and tells us to expect big things.

A poor quality video of ‘Inopportune: Stage One’

Photos from the exhibition via the NY Times

Borrowing Your Enemy’s Arrows

Inopportune: Stage Two

Inopportune: Stage Two

The size of Cai Guo-Qiang’s work is incredible, his lack of compromise is very inspiring. You can watch one of his works titled ‘Same Word, Same Seed, Same Root’ (not in the exhibition) being made by following this link and it’s amazing to watch what you think is an audience hurry along and help Cai make sure that the work’s creation isn’t also it’s destruction by putting out all of the tiny lit flames created by the gunpowder explosions. Another of his explosion works:

At the end of the exhibition, at the very top of the museum we are met with the last of Cai’s works on display. ‘Reflection — A Gift from Iwaki’, a shipwrecked boat that was rescued from decay on the shores of Iwaki, Japan. Cai enlisted the help of the local villagers and government to excavate and install this work, and the villagers were invited to install it again in its move to the Guggenheim.

CaiGuoQiang.com
Guggenheim – Exhibitions – Cai Guo-Qiang