Cai Guo-Qiang’s Head On ( click on picture to enlarge ) is an arc of 99 lifelike and life-size replicas of wolves that appear to be barrelling in a continuous stream towards a glass wall which they career into head on. I saw a picture of this work of art in The New Yorker and my attention was drawn to it because I thought they looked like dogs.
The wolves were produced in Quanzhou, China. The commissioned local workshop in Cai’s hometown specialises in manufacturing remarkable, life-size replicas of animals based on clay models and drawings. The realistic and lifelike 99 wolves that grew out of these models and drawings possess no literal remnants of wolves: they are fabricated from painted sheepskins and stuffed with hay and metal wires, with plastic lending contour to their faces and marbles for eyes.
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in the city of Quanzhou in Fujian Province, China, and is considered today to be one of the most important contemporary international artists.
Cai is due for plenty of attention in the coming months, as he is in charge of the visual and special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics.
Peter Schjeldahl of The New Yorker says of Cai who is known as an installation and pyrotechnic artist that : “A whiff of eccentric passion complicates the character of his art, which is strenuously theatrical and weirdly political (with ambiguous stands on Mao Zedong and terrorism), calculated in content (East-West tropes are a specialty), and ad hoc in form.”
Well, yes. Of course.
Would anybody like to fly over to New York with me? The Guggenheim is open late on Fridays.
The wolves were produced in Quanzhou, China. The commissioned local workshop in Cai’s hometown specialises in manufacturing remarkable, life-size replicas of animals based on clay models and drawings. The realistic and lifelike 99 wolves that grew out of these models and drawings possess no literal remnants of wolves: they are fabricated from painted sheepskins and stuffed with hay and metal wires, with plastic lending contour to their faces and marbles for eyes.
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in the city of Quanzhou in Fujian Province, China, and is considered today to be one of the most important contemporary international artists.
Cai is due for plenty of attention in the coming months, as he is in charge of the visual and special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics.
Peter Schjeldahl of The New Yorker says of Cai who is known as an installation and pyrotechnic artist that : “A whiff of eccentric passion complicates the character of his art, which is strenuously theatrical and weirdly political (with ambiguous stands on Mao Zedong and terrorism), calculated in content (East-West tropes are a specialty), and ad hoc in form.”
Well, yes. Of course.
Would anybody like to fly over to New York with me? The Guggenheim is open late on Fridays.
6 comments:
I'm tempted, ED
I'm tempted too! That's an incredible piece of art.
Sometimes modern art doesn't seem to make sense to me, but sometimes it can be surprising and awe-inspiring.
absolutely stunning! I'll come with you...
Amazing. Make room in your suitcase for me!!
Genius! Thanks for the tip, Michele.
I could meet you there. It's half way and I could combine it with a visit to my daughter.
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