An exhibition by international contemporary artist Guo-Qiang named Ramble in the Cosmos – From Primeval Fireball Onward will open on June 29, 2023, and will be held at the National Art Center in Tokyo (NACT). The exhibition is co-organized by NACT and Saint Laurent.

Shortly before the exhibition opening, Cai will also create a daytime fireworks event, titled When the Sky Blooms with Sakura, commissioned by Saint Laurent and Anthony Vaccarello. The fireworks will take place over the same shoreline as where the exhibition event is located. Cai Guo-Qiang’s special commission and involvement in organizing the exhibition once again underscores Saint Laurent and Anthony Vaccarello’s ongoing mission to support artists from various creative fields such as visual arts, film and music in every way.

For a long time, Cai has always been fascinated and intrigued by the universe of the unknown and invisible. The artist also expresses a strong interest in science and technology as a contemporary approach to understanding our infinite universe.
His work also reveals a concentration for understanding on sensitive current social issues. The protagonist of his art is gunpowder, and his work is recognized by his distinctive trait that is expressed through large-scale paintings, installations, and the outdoor explosion projects. His works focus on a grandiose, mythological and anthropological worldview.

Thus, the exhibition Ramble in the Cosmos – From Primeval Fireball Onward at NACT will have as its starting point Primeval Fireball, metaphorically Cai’s artistic « Big Bang. » From there, the exhibition will trace the evolution of Cai’s practice, asking two questions: what triggered the « big bang » and what has happened since?
The collective dialogue that the works chosen from among them go on to create is a universal dialogue, one that features the world of the invisible and the tangible. Within the exhibition will be the artist’s earliest works from China, followed by those from his formative years in Japan, then works created during his subsequent period in the United States and his journey on the world stage. The exhibition will feature about fifty works from the collections of Japan’s major public art museums and from the artist’s own collection.
Also enriching the exhibition will be a wide selection of rare archival materials, documentary videos, and wall texts written from the artist’s point of view.

Cai Guo-Qiang: Ramble in the Cosmos – From Primeval Fireball Onward
Dates: June 29 – August 21 2023
Closed: Tuesdays
Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
*10:00-20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays *Last admission 30 minutes before closing

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