Title
Falling Back To Earth
Posted In
Exhibition
Artist
Cai Guo-Qiang
Duration
23 November 2013 to 11 May 2014
Venue
Gallery of Modern Art / GOMA
Detailed Information
TitleFalling Back To EarthPosted InExhibitionArtistCai Guo-Qiang
Duration23 November 2013 to 11 May 2014VenueGallery of Modern Art / GOMA

The first Australian solo exhibition of celebrated Chinese artist and curator Cai Guo-Qiang (known for his gunpowder paintings, firework events and surreal animal sculptures) is now on display at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Australia. The exhibition, titled Falling Back to Earth, is based on the idea of ‘‘going home,’’ in other words, returning to the harmonious relationship between man and nature and includes packs of life-size animal sculptures, a pond filled with 170 tonnes of water and a real eucalyptus tree hanging indoors. 

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957) Heritage 201399 life-sized replicas of animals, water, sand, drip mechanismInstalled dimensions variableCommissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013. Proposed for the Queensland Art Gallery Collection with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957) Heritage 2013
99 life-sized replicas of animals, water, sand, drip mechanism
Installed dimensions variable
Commissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013. Proposed for the Queensland Art Gallery Collection with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

The making of Heritage 2013Photo by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio.

The making of Heritage 2013
Photo by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio.

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957) Heritage 201399 life-sized replicas of animals, water, sand, drip mechanismInstalled dimensions variableCommissioned   for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013. Proposed for the   Queensland Art Gallery Collection with funds from the Josephine Ulrick   and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of   the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation   Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern   Art

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957) Heritage 2013
99 life-sized replicas of animals, water, sand, drip mechanism
Installed dimensions variable
Commissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013. Proposed for the Queensland Art Gallery Collection with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

The making of Heritage 2013Photo by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio.

The making of Heritage 2013
Photo by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio.

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957) Heritage 201399 life-sized replicas of animals, water, sand, drip mechanismInstalled dimensions variableCommissioned   for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013. Proposed for the   Queensland Art Gallery Collection with funds from the Josephine Ulrick   and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of   the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation   Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern   Art

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957) Heritage 2013
99 life-sized replicas of animals, water, sand, drip mechanism
Installed dimensions variable
Commissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013. Proposed for the Queensland Art Gallery Collection with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

The exhibition boasts two new commissions created especially for this event. For the first one, ‘‘Heritage’’ (2013), 1100 square meters of exhibition space have been transformed into an indoor pond lined with white sand, around which 99 replicas of animals are set drinking water peacefully. The second one, ‘‘Eucalyptus’’ (2013), sees a real eucalyptus tree occupying GOMA’s central gallery, with seating available for visitors to observe and meditate. According to the exhibition’s curator Russell Storer, the new commissions drew on the striking beauty of Queensland’s landscapes and the exquisite imagery in historical Chinese painting and poetry, to express concerns regarding the ecological and social issues of our time.

In addition to the new commissions, the exhibition includes the notorious ‘‘Head On’’ installation from 2006 (where a pack of 99 wolves run into a glass wall), a Tea Pavilion (where people can sample tea from Guo-Qiang’s hometown and watch a documentary about the making of the exhibition) and an interactive installation for children. Alongside the main exhibition, a detailed chronology of Guo-Qiang’s work, including early works, ephemera, photographs and artefacts selected by the artist from his private collection and the QAGOMA Research Library, will be presented in the GOMA Foyer. A publication (including photographs of the new installations and essays by leading curators and critics) is expected to be released in January 2014.

Falling Back to Earth will be on show exclusively at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (GOMA) from 23 November 2013 to 11 May 2014.

The making of Heritage 2013Photo by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio.

The making of Heritage 2013
Photo by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio.

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957), Head On 200699 life-sized replicas of wolves and glass wall. Wolves: gauze, resin, and hideDimensions variableDeutsche Bank Collection, commissioned by Deutsche Bank AGPhotograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
蔡國強 1957, 年生於中國泉州;長居美國紐約 《撞牆》200699 條真實大小的狼複製品、玻璃牆。 狼:混凝紙糊、石膏、玻璃纖維、樹脂和毛皮。 尺寸不定德意志銀行收藏Natasha Harth 攝,昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館 提 供

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957), Head On 2006
99 life-sized replicas of wolves and glass wall. Wolves: gauze, resin, and hide
Dimensions variable
Deutsche Bank Collection, commissioned by Deutsche Bank AG
Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

蔡國強 1957, 年生於中國泉州;長居美國紐約 《撞牆》2006
99 條真實大小的狼複製品、玻璃牆。 狼:混凝紙糊、石膏、玻璃纖維、樹脂和毛皮。 尺寸不定
德意志銀行收藏
Natasha Harth 攝,昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館 提 供

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957), Eucalyptus 2013Spotted gum (Corymbia maculata), wooden stools, paper and pencilsLength: 3150cm (approx.)Commissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
蔡國強, 1957 年生於中國泉州;長居美國紐約 《桉樹》2013斑皮桉樹 (Corymbia maculata),木凳,紙,鉛筆 ;長約 3150 公分 昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館為《歸去來兮》展覽委 託製作因地制宜裝置作品Natasha Harth 攝,昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館 提 供

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957), Eucalyptus 2013
Spotted gum (Corymbia maculata), wooden stools, paper and pencils
Length: 3150cm (approx.)
Commissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013
Photograph: Natasha Harth, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

蔡國強, 1957 年生於中國泉州;長居美國紐約 《桉樹》2013
斑皮桉樹 (Corymbia maculata),木凳,紙,鉛
筆 ;長約 3150 公分 昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館為《歸去來兮》展覽委 託製作因地制宜裝置作品
Natasha Harth 攝,昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館 提 供

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957), Tea Pavilion 2013Spotted  gum (Corymbia maculata), wooden stools, Fujian Tie Guan Yin tea and  video documentary Commissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to  Earth’, 2013Photo by Yuyu Chen, courtesy Cai Studio.
蔡國強 1957 年生於中國泉州;長居美國紐約 《茶庭》2013斑皮桉樹 (Corymbia maculata),木凳,福建鐵觀 音茶,錄像 昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館為《歸去來兮》展覽委 託製作因地制宜裝置作品、陳昱羽摄,蔡工作室提供

Cai Guo-Qiang (China b.1957), Tea Pavilion 2013
Spotted gum (Corymbia maculata), wooden stools, Fujian Tie Guan Yin tea and video documentary Commissioned for the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’, 2013
Photo by Yuyu Chen, courtesy Cai Studio.

蔡國強 1957 年生於中國泉州;長居美國紐約 《茶庭》2013
斑皮桉樹 (Corymbia maculata),木凳,福建鐵觀 音茶,錄像 昆士蘭美術館暨現代美術館為《歸去來兮》展覽委 託製作因地制宜裝置作品、
陳昱羽摄,蔡工作室提供

Cai Guo-Qiang in front of installation Eucalyptus at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, 2013.Photo by Yuyu Chen, courtesy Cai Studio.
蔡国强站在裝置作品《桉樹》前,布里斯班現代美 術館,澳洲,2013 年陳昱羽摄,蔡工作室提供

Cai Guo-Qiang in front of installation Eucalyptus at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, 2013.
Photo by Yuyu Chen, courtesy Cai Studio.

蔡国强站在裝置作品《桉樹》前,布里斯班現代美 術館,澳洲,2013 年
陳昱羽摄,蔡工作室提供

Visitors  sampling Fujian Tie Guan Yin tea in Cai Guo-Qiang’s installation Tea  Pavilion, in the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’ at the Gallery of  Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, 2013Photo by Yuyu Chen, courtesy Cai Studio.
觀眾於布里斯班現代美術館《歸去來兮》展覽, 蔡國強的裝置作品《茶庭》裡品嚐福建鐵觀音茶, 澳洲, 2013 年陳昱羽摄,蔡工作室提供

Visitors sampling Fujian Tie Guan Yin tea in Cai Guo-Qiang’s installation Tea Pavilion, in the exhibition ‘Falling Back to Earth’ at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, 2013
Photo by Yuyu Chen, courtesy Cai Studio.

觀眾於布里斯班現代美術館《歸去來兮》展覽, 蔡國強的裝置作品《茶庭》裡品嚐福建鐵觀音茶, 澳洲, 2013 年
陳昱羽摄,蔡工作室提供

Falling Back To Earth: Cai Guo-Qiang’s Powerful Solo Show In Brisbane, Australia

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