Feature: Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang explodes into Los Angeles art scene

by Julia Pierrepont III
PASADENA, United States, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) — The USC Pacific Asia Museum (PAM) and the Getty hosted a special event here on Friday to honor the works of internationally renowned artist Cai Guo-Qiang, ahead of the opening of his exhibition to the public on Tuesday.
As a prestigious Chinese artist, Cai is renowned for his innovative contributions to contemporary art. His works are distinguished by the use of gunpowder to create large-scale installations that challenge traditional art perceptions and explore its relationship with culture and the environment.
Titled “Cai Guo-Qiang: A Material Odyssey,” the exhibition, running through June 15, 2025, will almost fill the entire museum with a comprehensive selection of the artist’s gunpowder paintings and drawings, along with scientific imagery that explores gunpowder’s nature, its impact on his works, and the evolution of his process over the past four decades.
Born in 1957 in China’s Fujian Province, Cai’s artistic journey began in childhood, influenced by traditional Chinese culture, the natural beauty of his surroundings, and a young boy’s fascination with fireworks and the spirit world.
“Cai has embraced the use of gunpowder because he wanted to relinquish control over the creation process,” said Rachel Rivenc, lead curator and head of Conservation and Preservation at the Getty Research Institute.
Getty is a leading global arts organization based in Los Angeles and is committed to the exhibition, conservation, and understanding of the world’s artistic and cultural heritage. The exhibition is based on the Getty’s extensive scientific research into the Chinese contemporary artist’s lifelong engagement with gunpowder and pyrotechnics.
As one of the world’s leading post-postmodern contemporary artists, he connects past, present, and future using both ancient and modern materials, such as earth, paper, silk, canvas, ceramics, glass, mirrors, and gunpowder.
Cai’s unconventional choice of medium not only reflects his Chinese heritage but also serves as a metaphor for the duality of creation and destruction and the transitory impermanence of life.
Cai told Xinhua his fear of death as a sensitive child fueled his longing for dialogues with “the unseen world,” and made him think about “the significance of life and the essence of the cosmos.”
Since the artworks that result from his explosive projects cannot be controlled or even predicted by him, Cai said he viewed them as forms of communication from other dimensions or even the spirit realm — enabling the “unseen to become seen.”
By weaving these narratives into his art, Cai said he aims to create a dialogue that encourages viewers to consider their place within the larger tapestry of human history and culture.
“It’s important for an artist, a country, and for a person to always remain with an open heart,” Cai said. “All the civilizations before you are your ancestors and all the great cultures out there can be inherited by you,” Cai said.
Bethany Montagano, executive director of USC PAM, explained that the upcoming exhibition is part of the museum’s vision of the arts as “non-boundary-defined, hybrid, interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial, and technologically innovative,” noting that Cai “perfectly exemplifies that initiative.” ■