Cai Guo-Qiang is one of the most important Chinese artists to have emerged internationally in the 1990s. Best known for his spectacular gunpowder projects at locations ranging from museum entrances to the sites of Land art works such as Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, Cai has explored a diversity of media and artforms. These have included works such as an extension of the Great Wall of China, designed to be seen from outer space by extraterrestrial beings; feng shui rearrangements of public and private spaces both in Japan and New York; participatory projects with kites, jacuzzis and mini golf courses; and sculptures constructed from melted-down cars or abandoned boats. His projects are strongly influenced by their location and the works are frequently altered or developed as they are exhibited at new sites. Unifying Cai's wide-ranging work is his consistent investigation of humanity's place within the universe. Born in Quanzhou, China, in 1957, Cai lived in Tokyo from 1985 until 1995 when he moved to New York. Now recognized as a major artist worldwide, he has made projects in all the inhabited continents of the world.
