Cai Guo-Qiang

Snow Lotus No. 1

€5,500

Edition of 50

Frame included

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Five years later, Cai Guo-Qiang returns with explosive reflections on love and resilience.

The inspiration for Cai’s gunpowder paintings on glass and mirror came from childhood recollections of traditional Chinese mirror paintings. Each one traps an explosion of pigment between two fragile planes – a balancing act of control and chaos.

Capturing the layered and illusory quality of the original artwork presented a new challenge for printmakers at Make-Ready in London. Snow Lotus No. 1 was disassembled for the first time since its creation and documented in two parts. This formed the basis of a layered printing process – allowing the traces of gunpowder left by each explosion, and their effect when combined, to be replicated perfectly.

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Cai Guo-Qiang2 collaborationsCai Guo-Qiang is a living icon, an Old Master of our time. His pioneering firework events and explosion paintings have brought Cai (and gunpowder) to the summit of the contemporary art world. Cai first experimented with explosives in the 1980s as a young Chinese artist living in Japan. He merged his skill as a painter with the lawless mark of explosion by firing rockets at his canvases and lighting gunpowder from underneath them – a technique he still uses today. Invented in China by ancient alchemists, gunpowder is a symbol of both celebration and destruction. It's an integral part of traditions in Chinese celebration but also evokes the violence of The Cultural Revolution that Cai grew up in. Beyond history, Cai has a spiritual connection to gunpowder: "I do get somewhat nervous, but in the moment of ignition, it seems to go beyond nerves, becoming an energy that is sudden, spiritual and also cosmic. A feeling of the invisible world is sparked within that instant."

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Reviews from Avant collectors

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Review of Portrait of Maya #10
AA always produces an amazing quality product; packaging and framing are always top notch as well!
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excellent and amazing. just a marvellous experience dealing with Avant Arte
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very happy with everything, the piece is better than I expected. Taking it to the framer next week :) thanks!
Review of Centrifuge
Thanks again for great collaboration and looking forward to new projects and pieces for my collection.
Review of Descendent - Lucid Dreamer
Looks really great - high quality print arrived in perfect condition. Thank You!
Review of Guardian
love it! beautiful sturdy wooden box and gloves supplied to handle and protect the artwork.
Review of Descendent - Lucid Dreamer
Always an excellent job and piece of art from Avant!
Review of Dogs of War

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