Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling back to earth

14 15 The creative, logistical and design collaboration that lies behind the making and presentation of contemporary works of art of this scale and ambition requires a firm embrace of all things uncertain, experimental, challenging and transformative; and the reward for taking this leap of faith, for the artist and the institution, can be simply astonishing. Cai Guo-Qiang has transformed the Gallery of Modern Art’s ground floor galleries as never before, and he has done so in a way that now seems as inevitable as it is undeniable. In his essay ‘Extraterrestrial fires’, Fabio Cavalluci declares: ‘Cai loves working on the thin line that separates the possible from the impossible’. 1 Even when things don’t work out as planned, Cai continues to push harder, testing and extending his methods and materials to create ever-more ambitious works that have enthralled millions of people worldwide. For this Gallery, the process of this investigation into plausibility is just as vital as the final outcome — it was in 1996 and 1999, and it remains so today. A project of this kind would be unthinkable and even impossible without the extraordinary support of an engaged and committed coalition of partners, sponsors and supporters. Head On 2006, one of Cai’s seminal works, is presented here in Australia for the first time. I gratefully acknowledge Deutsche Bank for lending this work from their collection and particularly thank Friedhelm Hütte, the bank’s Global Head of Art, whose assistance and generosity has been invaluable to our realising this project. I am even more deeply indebted to Win Schubert who, through the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation, has enabled the Gallery to acquire Heritage for its Collection, together with generous support from the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation. Hers is a remarkable gesture of belief in the Gallery. I know that Cai shares the Gallery’s profound respect for the Traditional Owners of the land; and I sincerely thank all the Elders and community representatives who met with him on his various trips around Queensland, and those who have continued to offer their advice and support right through the development of ‘Falling Back to Earth’. The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art’s Board of Trustees, chaired by Professor Susan Street, has been firmly behind this project since the beginning; as has the QAGOMA Foundation, led by President Tim Fairfax, AM , himself an inspiring patron of contemporary art and supporter of our children’s programming. Artist-driven children’s programming has been fundamental to the Gallery for many years. Let’s Create an Exhibition with a Boy Named Cai , which Cai has created with our Children’s Art Centre, is one of the most innovative we have ever presented, due largely to Cai’s uncanny understanding of young people’s creative motivations. He articulates why it is so critical for him to work with children in an essay in this publication. The Tim Fairfax Family Foundation is our greatest patron of children’s programming and I must again thank Tim and Gina Fairfax and their family for their wonderful support on this occasion too. They have been the Principal Benefactor of some of our most successful children’s initiatives, including our publishing program and Kids On Tour, which travels to regional galleries, schools and Indigenous knowledge centres. I gratefully acknowledge the invaluable role of the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland, and warmly thank the Premier of Queensland, the Honourable Campbell Newman MP ; the Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, the Honourable Ian Walker MP , and the Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, the Honourable Jann Stuckey MP . Behind them has been a tireless network of supporters at Arts Queensland, Tourism and Events Queensland and Brisbane Marketing, all of whom are dedicated to making art more accessible; strengthening the Cultural Precinct’s reputation as a major cultural destination; and building our state’s cultural tourism industry. I am grateful to them all. ‘Falling Back to Earth’ is the fifth exhibition supported by Presenting Sponsor Santos GLNG as part of the long-term partnership between our organisations to present an annual summer series of exhibitions and to support our Children’s Art Centre. Santos is deeply committed to Queensland and they play a vital role in enabling us to present exhibitions of this scale and significance. I want to especially thank Trevor Brown, Vice President Queensland, Rod Duke, Vice President Downstream Santos GLNG, Brad Burke, General Manager, Government and Public Affairs, Santos GLNG, and David Knox, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Santos for their continuing support. I wish to also thank Principal Sponsor, Audi Australia, through Andrew Doyle, Managing Director, another great supporter of contemporary art who recently entered into a long-term partnership with the Gallery to support major contemporary exhibitions at the Gallery of Modern Art, as well as the Audi GOMA Bar at our Australian Cinémathèque. Our Supporting Sponsors and Tourism and Media partners have also played a very important role in helping us to realise this project, supporting our education program and working to profile the exhibition and to attract visitors to Queensland across multiple fronts. I sincerely thank them all for their enthusiastic commitment to the Gallery and to ‘Falling Back to Earth’. I must take this opportunity to acknowledge the many people at QAGOMA who have directly and indirectly contributed to the long march toward ‘Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling Back to Earth’. The most consistent driving force behind this exhibition was Suhanya Raffel, former Deputy Director of Curatorial and Collection Development and Acting Director, who worked with Cai during the second APT and who led this project until recently when she left to take on a new role. As her essay in this publication makes clear, Suhanya has a profound understanding of Cai’s practice and, as a more recent arrival, I am indebted to her sustaining leadership of this project. I am no less indebted to former Director, Tony Ellwood, who was a tireless advocate for major contemporary art projects during his five years at the Gallery’s helm; and I thank Tony for planting the seeds out of which this exhibition grew. It was invariably due to his no-holds-barred approach to contemporary art that this project got off the ground. Alongside him, Andrew Clark, former Deputy Director of Programming and Corporate Services was highly instrumental in the exhibition’s planning. He worked closely with Cai on both previous APTs and it was during his time at the Gallery that a young Cai Guo-Qiang was commissioned to create an interactive project for the inaugural Kids’ APT, the legendary bridge-making activity for APT3. Looking further back in time, but with good purpose, I want also to acknowledge former Gallery staff, Dr Caroline Turner, Rhana Devenport and Michael Barnett, who under the inspired and foundational leadership of then Director Doug Hall, worked to realise the first of the APT exhibitions, and thus nurtured contemporary art audiences here to such an extent that we are now in a position to stage an exhibition like this in Brisbane. In closing, I want to recognise the team here at the Gallery who have taken on the great task of working with Cai, and the talented Cai Studio team, based in New York. The exhibition’s lead curator, Russell Storer, deserves particular recognition as the individual whose professionalism and attention to detail is most revealed here, in the exhibition and in the pages of this publication. I also thank the catalogue authors who have contributed thoughtful essays that explore the major themes of the exhibition. Russell has received tremendous and highly collegial support from exhibitions manager Tarragh Cunningham, lead exhibition designer Michael O’Sullivan, children’s programming head Donna McColm, and an extensive project team that encompassed virtually every member of staff and every Gallery department. In turn, they have worked under the skilled direction of the Gallery’s Executive Management team: Celestine Doyle, Maud Page and Simon Wright, who have lent me remarkable assistance as we worked together with Cai and the Cai Studio including Mariluz Hoyos, Kelly Ma and Tatsumi Masatoshi, toward the final realisation of this project. When you sign up for a project with one of the most respected, challenging and exciting artists working today you know it is going to be a special experience. ‘Falling Back to Earth’ has been that and more; and I know I speak for everyone involved when I say that we feel immensely honoured to have joined Cai Guo-Qiang on this global journey of his, from the extra-terrestrial back to earth, here at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art. It is our great privilege to present Cai Guo-Qiang’s first Australian solo exhibition and, on behalf of all of us, I would like to thank the creative force at its centre — Cai Guo-Qiang. The Chinese dragon and its local companion-in-arms, the Rainbow Serpent, does indeed have a long tail that reaches relentlessly back to the Brisbane River. Thank you Cai for leading us to places that we have never been before and for your longstanding commitment to this place. 1 Fabio Cavallucci, ‘Extraterrestrial Fires’ in Cai Guo-Qiang: Ethereal Flowers , Galleria Civica di Arte, Trento, 2002, pp.11–25.