This is the story of how I got to know the work of the artist Cai Guo-Qiang and how my visit to the opening of his latest exhibition yesterday evening had a surprising end.

Back in January 2022 on a cold winter’s day, I was looking through art documentaries on Netflix and found one called Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang (2016). I had never heard of him before but over the course of the programme I learned that he’s a Chinese artist based in New York and his specialities are fireworks on a monumental scale and painting using gunpowder. I was absolutely mesmerised and watched it twice. If an artist catches my attention like this I’ll take a note of it and my note from that time was “Loved it! So inspirational and original. He really thinks big.” The main theme of the film were his extended efforts to build a huge Sky Ladder made of fireworks and he did eventually succeed. The Sky Ladder was 500 metres high and over 5 metres wide and was suspended from a giant balloon. He had dedicated it to his grandmother who died a short while later and that, along with the subject matter itself and how beautiful it was, gave it a very spiritual dimension.

So, when White Cube announced an upcoming exhibition of his work titled Gunpowder and Abstraction 2015 - 2025, I put the date of the opening straight into my diary. I couldn’t wait!

Arriving at the gallery yesterday, the entrance seemed a little different to the usual and there was a queue for a bag check. My camera was noted by the security person and I was asked to run it by reception before I took any photos. I did that and everything was fine so I started to look around the exhibition and forgot all about it. The exhibition didn’t disappoint - there was a mix of gunpowder paintings on glass (which left me wondering how they were possible) and some on canvas. Some were abstract and some had motifs of flowers, birds and even bats. All of them were totally beautiful and the quality was super.

Having seen Cai’s gunpowder painting process on the documentary made the whole experience more meaningful. The gallery itself is a beautiful space and more so with this exhibition than with previous ones, the reflections on the polished concrete floors were really beautiful, so I’ve included those in most of my shots.

You can click on any of the following images to see them at full size in a lightbox.

When I left the gallery, that’s when I got a shock. There was now a demonstration right at the gate. I asked one of the security guards what he knew and he said that the demonstration had moved from protesting at the Chinese Embassy earlier in the day.

Outside I asked one of the protestors what it was about and she explained that Cai Guo-Qiang had set off fireworks on a sacred Tibetan mountain. What the heck! He’s blown up a mountain?? Not quite but he had set off a massive fireworks display over Himalayan mountains at altitudes of around 5,000 metres. The display was titled Rising Dragon and Cai announced it as his way to “bring energy, awe, blessings and hope to the world.” The company who produced the display is Arc’teryx, a Canadian brand now under Chinese ownership, who wanted to celebrate mountain culture. Unfortunately, that’s not how it was received by many who viewed the videos.

Although both Cai and Arc’teryx have since apologised, there has been a huge backlash against the disturbance of a sacred space and the concern that, mainly due to the high altitudes, all the materials used in the display may not be properly cleared. People are also angry about the dangers caused to the flora and fauna in the delicate ecosystem of alpine meadows. As you can imagine, there are questions being asked about the approval process.

The videos have since been deleted. Here’s a screenshot posted by the Global Times.

It’s was shocking and sad to see someone I’ve admired for a few years become the subject of such a controversy and to see his name on protest placards. Fireworks in themselves are controversial. I personally love them (in the right environment of course) but I know that others do not like them at all. I have a small scar on my face from a fireworks burn, but it has never bothered me, and I’ve never given too much thought to it. Most likely because it happened when I was a baby and I have no memory of it. Over my lifetime, I’ve been at probably hundreds of displays and I wouldn’t have missed them for the world. The most recent stunning one was over the bay of Cannes in the south of France. I’ve also been at a London one years ago where small chunks of burning material were falling from the sky into the crowd. My own daughter was a baby in her buggy so I took her and my young niece away from the area but the rest of the family happily stayed on.

It’s sad to see something which, in the right place, could have created happiness, but in the wrong environment it’s caused a lot of pain.

I had gone out intending just to take photos of art but I ended up taking photos of the protest as well. Then, on the bus home, I saw the Canary Wharf buildings in a stunning evening light. I jumped off a few stops later and went down to the river to get a few shots. I had just missed the absolute best of the light by the time I got there but it was still lovely so I got a few shots I’m happy with and I’ll save those for another day.

If you’d like to watch the documentary Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang, it’s still available on Netflix as of the date of this blog. I wholeheartedly recommend it - it’s 1 hour 19 minutes long.

To read the Artnet article click here.

To see the current exhibition description by White Cube click here. It runs until 9 November 2025.

If you’re interested in art, photography or you’d just like to follow my challenges and learning, please CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY MONTHLY NEWSLETTER. In it, I’ll let you know what I’ve been doing over the past month, upcoming exhibitions I’m planning to attend, and I’ll also link to any blogs I’ve published (like this one) so that you don’t miss any.

Loren x

Selfie reflection in one of Cai Guo-Qiang’s mirror gunpowder paintings

Fireworks and Controversy!