ART CITIES:Madrid-Cai Guo-Qiang

Cai Guo-Qiang is considered one of the most significant artists active today, his versatile and creative approach to materials is as impressive as the magnitude and scale of his works. He is well known for his many highly renowned projects around the world, such as designing the fireworks for the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He often works with explosive materials and is an expert in using fireworks to create his Works.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Museo Nacional del Prado Archive

Cai Guo-Qiang is the first living artist to create new work for display at the Museo Nacional del Prado. This is the second solo exhibition by a living artist at the museum since it was founded the other was by Cy Twombly  in 2008. The concept of Cai Guo-Qiang’s exhibition “The Spirit of Painting. Cai Guo-Qiang at the Prado” arises from his ongoing relationship with El Greco’s unique artistic figure and spirituality and proposes a dialogue with artists in the Museum’s collection. Cai Guo-Qiang’s in his residency, from late September to October 23, 2017, transformed the Hall of Realms into his studio where he produced a group of works inspired by the memory of this historic room, formerly part of the Buen Retiro palace, and by a dialogue with the old masters represented in the Museum, the residency culminated with the creation of “The Spirit of Painting”, a painting measuring approximately 18 meters long. Both this work and the others by Cai Guo-Qiang, also made with ignited gunpowder, feature in the monographic exhibition “The Spirit of Painting. Cai Guo-Qiang at the Prado”, shown in the Prado’s Jerónimos Building. The themes and artworks in the four exhibition rooms naturally form a progressive rhythm that mirrors the Chinese compositional formula: “Rise”, “Development”, “Shift”, and “Unification”. The exhibition comprises 30 paintings made with gunpowder, 8 of them ignited on-site at the Salón de Reinos. Also on view are anoil and an acrylic painting created at the start of his activities as a painter; and various sketches and drawings on matchboxes by his father, Cai Ruiqin, who steered him towards painting. The forth room  is showing a 20-minute documentary by Isabel Coixet which introduces viewers to the artist’s creative process and the work that he has produced for this exhibition.

Info: Curators: Miguel Zugaza, Co-Curator: Alejandro Vergara, Museo Nacional del Prado, Paseo del Prado, Madrid, Duration: 25/10/17-4/3/18, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00, Sun 10:00-19:00, www.museodelprado.es