Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling Back to Earth
Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
until 11 May 2014
Run, don’t walk to Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art if you’re yet to see Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling Back to Earth.
Falling Back to Earth is an epic exhibition about the beauty and danger of nature.
Comprising of three mammoth installations as well as a tea pavilion, interactive children’s art centre and more, the work links to Queensland's nature make it the perfect fit for the Gallery of Modern Art’s light and airy space. In Cai’s first Australian solo exhibition, the collection is inspired by his travels in South East Queensland.
In Heritage, ninety-nine animals stand in a circle, heads bent, drinking from a clear pool of impossibly blue water. Predators and prey are lined up in peaceful harmony: lions and tigers together with giraffes, zebras and kangaroos. It’s a utopian vision of Cai’s perception of a ‘last paradise’ far from the cares and conflicts of the rest of the world, making for a moving and contemplative work.
The second new work, Eucalyptus is a magnificent native Eucalypt removed as part of an urban development and relocated to the gallery to create a contemplative piece around the circle of life theme. Visitors are encouraged to reflect and leave messages about the tree’s past, present and future.
The third gallery is home to Head On, Cai’s 2006 work originally created for the Guggenheim Museum in Berlin. Featuring 99 wolves hurling themselves through the air, only to hit a glass wall before returning to the beginning, it’s a metaphor for humanity’s willingness to repeat its own mistakes.
Don’t miss this compelling exhibition by highly respected global artist, Cai Guo-Quiang. Falling Back to Earth, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane until 11 May 2014.
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