Cai Guo-Qiang and Pompeii: In the Volcano

The "volcanic" art of Cai Guo-Qiang in Pompeii and Naples recaptures the link between ancient and contemporary sensibility

In 2019, New York-based Chinese artist Cai-Guo Qiang (born 1957) was invited to create a work of art in the amphitheater of the Pompeii archaeological site. Inspired by the fate of the ancient Roman city, which was buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Cai's work involved gunpowder, fireworks, an array of artifacts and a vast canvas. The performance culminated in an "excavation" of the resulting debris, which became part of Cai's exhibition of related works at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

Cai Guo-Qiang and Pompeii: In the Volcano is published to document Cai's work in Pompeii. The project at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples is part of an ongoing, multiyear series of exhibitions, An Individual's Journey Through Western Art History. Staging work in Moscow, Madrid, Florence and now Pompeii, Cai juxtaposes his work with the Western art historical canon.