Cai Guo-Qiang (by Heidi)

Cai was born in Fujian Province, China in 1957. He studied at the Institute for Contemporary Art: The National and International Studio Program at P.S.1 in New York. Cai uses a variety of media including gun powder. He uses this to make a connection between viewers and the larger universe. His explosive events are not only visually pleasing to watch but also have an end result. That end result are his explosive drawings. He has a variety of forms represented in his drawings that also relate to some of his other work. Continually you will see a silhouette of a tiger in his explosion drawings that relate to his realistic stuffed looking tigers. In Cai's work he has a variety of symbols, narratives, mediums and traditions. The imagery he uses consist of things such as tigers, dragons, roller coasters and vending machines.
When asked why he makes his explosive drawings he will say something of the sort that it is a challenge to make something explosive and violent into something beautiful. He makes the explosive drawings to show beauty can come out of something usually used as a means of violence. In Cai's stuffed tiger exhibit he has many realistic looking tigers pierced with bows. He is trying to create a sense of sadness and emotion. The sad feeling you get when you see the pierced tigers is his ultimate goal.
I actually saw Cai's exhibit at the Gugenheim in New York last April. The show overall was incredible and definately worth the long trip to New York to see. There was an exhibit where he took an old sunken ship and filled around the ship broken ceramic pieces. Some of the pieces around the ship were manufactured ceramic religious icons. These icon's were rejections and were then considered garbage. Cai took the rejected pieces and spread them around the ship to show how the world of manufacturing is not necessarily a pleasant one. When I saw the tigers pierced with bows I really did get a feeling of pain and sorrow. His explosive drawings were amazing to see up close. The way the gun powder creates color and shapes is very visually interesting. Overall this artist explores new ways of making art and explores new mediums that most artists have never tried to use.
-I got this information from Cai's biography on the Art 421 website (www.pbs.org/art421) , I also got the information from my own viewpoint about the artist since I have seen his work in person.