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Cai Guo-Qiang — Blue Bird and Flowers No. 1
Cai Guo-Qiang — Blue Bird and Flowers No. 1
Cai Guo-Qiang

Blue Bird and Flowers No. 1

2026

This large scale work exemplifies Cai Guo Qiang's signature gunpowder painting technique, wherein controlled detonations disperse pigment across canvas to create compositions that exist between destruction and creation. Dominating the lower half of the composition, a dense magenta and burgundy cloud erupts with intensity, surrounded by radiating halos of gray scorch marks that speak to the explosive force at the work's core. Above this central burst, vibrant blue pigment clusters scatter across the white ground like fractured forms or dispersed matter, their radiating edges suggesting the violent energy of detonation. Scattered red accents punctuate the composition, while gray linear marks traverse the entire surface, creating a sense of spatial complexity. The work marks Cai's return to chromatic intensity after decades working primarily in black gunpowder, reintroducing color as a vehicle for exploring themes of power, impermanence, and the aesthetic potential of controlled chaos.

Medium
Gunpowder on canvas
Overall

Notes

White Cube solo presentation of Cai Guo-Qiang at TEFAF New York 2026, Stand 355, Park Avenue Armory, May 14–19, 2026. Made 2021 to 2026. Framed: 185.1 x 154.3 x 6.7 cm.

For Sale — $700000

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About this work

Cai Guo-Qiang, Blue Bird and Flowers No. 1, 2026

This large scale work exemplifies Cai Guo Qiang's signature gunpowder painting technique, wherein controlled detonations disperse pigment across canvas to create compositions that exist between destruction and creation. Dominating the lower half of the composition, a dense magenta and burgundy cloud erupts with intensity, surrounded by radiating halos of gray scorch marks that speak to the explosive force at the work's core. Above this central burst, vibrant blue pigment clusters scatter across the white ground like fractured forms or dispersed matter, their radiating edges suggesting the violent energy of detonation. Scattered red accents punctuate the composition, while gray linear marks traverse the entire surface, creating a sense of spatial complexity. The work marks Cai's return to chromatic intensity after decades working primarily in black gunpowder, reintroducing color as a vehicle for exploring themes of power, impermanence, and the aesthetic potential of controlled chaos.

Medium
Gunpowder on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 183 x 152.5 cm
Year
2026
Seen at
White Cube, London, United Kingdom

Related themes

Living Artist, Gunpowder Painting, International Contemporary, Mixed Media, Blue Chip Gallery, Magenta And Blue, Chinese Artist, Conceptual Art, Destruction Creation, Canvas, Color Field, Pigment Dispersion, Modern Asian Art, Contemporary Art, Kinetic Gesture, Material Innovation, Large Scale, Explosive Abstraction, Performance Based, Abstract Composition

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