The Spirit of Painting. Cai Guo-Qiang at the Prado

Cai Guo-Qiang (Quanzhou, China, 1957) is one of the prized artists in recent years. He was the director of visual and special effects for the Beijing Olympics, and recently has returned to dedicating himself to painting and is currently exploring the possibilities of using gunpowder as a material for creating artworks. Cai Guo-Qiang has long been interested in European artistic tradition, and the masters shown in the Museo del Prado such as Tiziano, Rubens, Velázquez, Goya and especially El Greco, represent 'the spirit of painting' for him. His own exhibition on in the Prado shows works he's created with gunpowder burnt over canvas, in which the artist meditates on the qualities that define the art of his predecessors.