Chinese artist in Argentina uses gunpowder in new exhibit

World Today

The exhibition of Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guoqiang,  who is famous for his art created with explosives, opened Saturday, Dec.13th in  Buenos Aires Argentina. CCTV America’s Joel Richards reported.

Known around the world for his stunning fireworks display at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, his most recent work was a series of landscapes in Argentina, which was all produced with his trademark technique inside an old warehouse in the south of Buenos Aires.

Cai Guoqiang brings explosive art to Argentina

Cai Guoqiang brings explosive art to Argentina

“After coming here, I decided to learn to learn more about tango. In Argentinian culture, they are very passionate and energetic, so I tried to use gunpowder to portray this sensibility,” said Cai.

With the help of over 100 local university art students, Cai Guo Qiang worked from photos taken around the country and used locally produced gunpowder, which brought its own challenges.

One of the main attractions will be in January, which is a display that will mix tango, explosives and one of the icons in La Boca. This exhibition continues through March and promises to be one of the highlights of the year.

He won the Golden Lion at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999 and was a finalist in the Hugo Boss Awards in 1996. He has also exhibited work at the Modern Art Museum in New York and the Guggenheim museums in New York and Bilbao.