


Blue Fire and Blue Bird
2026
This monumental gunpowder painting presents an explosive composition dominated by vivid blues, teals, and deep indigos that radiate outward from a concentrated central vortex. Scattered across a largely white ground, countless organic forms emerge from controlled detonations, creating halos of pigment and charred marks that suggest both celestial phenomena and natural turbulence. The work exemplifies the artist's signature technique of harnessing gunpowder's destructive force to generate painterly effects, where precision and chaos converge. Recent chromatic intensity marks a departure from decades of monochromatic black explosions, introducing a new vocabulary of color saturation and tonal complexity. The composition invites simultaneous readings as landscape, abstraction, or cosmic event, embodying the fundamental tension between creation and destruction that defines this artistic practice.
- Medium
- Gunpowder on canvas
- Overall
- Spotted At
- Gallery · White Cube
Notes
White Cube solo presentation of Cai Guo-Qiang at TEFAF New York 2026, Stand 355, Park Avenue Armory, May 14–19, 2026. Made 2022 to 2026. Framed: 184.8 x 154.9 x 6.7 cm.
For Sale — $700000
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