Art That Makes Me Marvel at the WorldCai Guo-Qiang and his team are gearing up for the Chinese artist’s first West Coast exhibition that promises an opening event like no other — and I am sooooo jealous. On April 7th, in honor of his alien-themed exhibition, “Sky Ladder” at MoCA’s Geffen Contemporary, Cai has plans to launch spaceship-like fireworks off the roof of the Geffen, shoot rockets off in the parking lot, and ignite a halo of explosions from the head of an alien deity in one of the most exciting pyrotechnic displays I’ve ever heard of. And that’s only the opening presentation. The work for “Sky Ladder” draws inspiration from crop circles and will offer viewers an inverted ceiling installation of handmade crop circles, as well as renderings that pay homage to man’s obsession with space travel. I mean…come on. That’s amazing.
I love art that makes me marvel at the world, art that makes me question what I’m seeing and keeps me wanting more. Cai is the preeminent installation artist and master of spectacle and easily my favorite artist. First, he wowed me with his Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin installation that involved 99 taxidermy wolves spilling head-first into a glass wall:

Then, he re-created his MASS MoCA installation of “Inopportune: Stage One”, which he re-configured for a vertically suspended installation in the Guggenheim rotunda. Nine white American-made automobiles tumble through the air, pierced by multichannel light tubes that make them each look like they’ve sprung a leak:

I’m kicking myself that I won’t be in Los Angeles during the exhibition, so friends and art fans, send me your photos and i-Phone pics of the April 7th event so we can live vicariously through you. “Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder,” will be on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Geffen Contemporary from April 8-July 30.
Re-posted with permission from Argot and Ochre.