The Spirit of Painting

This book catalogues Cai Guo-Qiang's recent exhibition at the Prado, the first in over thirty years to focus solely on his painting, and the first time that an artist had created on-site at the Prado. It explores Cai Guo-Qiang's ongoing dialogue with El Greco and the way he established a relationship with the great masters represented in the Prado. It reproduces nearly thirty paintings made with gunpowder, eight of which were ignited on-site at the Salón de Reinos. It also features an oil and an acrylic created at the start of his activities as a painter; and various sketches and drawings on matchboxes by his father, Cai Ruiqin, who steered him towards painting. The catalogue includes texts and essays by Miguel Zugaza, Alejandro Vergara, Kosme Barañano and Cai Guo-Qiang himself, in which he reflects on his life and artistic career and on the principles and concerns that have governed the evolution of his work.