2013 Media Releases
Deutsche Bank partners with GOMA to bring wolves to Brisbane in major Cai Guo-Qiang exhibition
Ninety-nine life-sized stuffed wolves leap and crash en masse into a transparent wall in the Deutsche Bank-owned artwork Head On (2006), presented by Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art thisweek at the first solo exhibition in Australia of internationally renowned contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang.
Cai’s much-anticipated ‘Falling Back to Earth’ exhibition, backed by sponsors including Deutsche Bank, opens on 23 November and runs until 11 May 2014. It also features two new commissions directly inspired by the landscapes of southeast Queensland.
As Supporting Sponsor, Deutsche Bank is facilitating the exhibition’s interactive education program where young people can participate in Cai’s exciting methods to create their own exhibitions. Chinese-born Cai, now based in New York, is known for his dramatic installations and use of fireworks.
JT Macfarlane, Executive Chairman, Deutsche Bank Australia & New Zealand, said: “Deutsche Bank is known in Australia for supporting contemporary art through education.
“Just recently we marked our 40th anniversary in Australia by renewing our unique Education Partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and now we are proud to bring a global artist of Cai’s calibre not only to Australia but exclusively to Brisbane.
“We are also delighted that audiences in Australia will for the first time be able to experience the thought-provoking Head On (2006), which was originally commissioned by Deutsche Bank for the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin and has since travelled to New York, Bilbao, Beijing, Taipei and Singapore.”
While Cai's Head On was inspired by Berlin and its history, the artwork’s message is more general. Cai said: "I wanted to portray the universal human tragedy resulting from this blind urge to press forward, the way we try to attain our goals without compromise."
Deutsche Bank has supported contemporary art for more than 30 years, sponsoring major international and local events including the Frieze Art Fairs in London and New York. It was a major sponsor of the 17th Biennale of Sydney in 2010, which showcased another of Cai’s major installations Inopportune: Stage One (2004) where nine exploding cars were suspended from the ceiling of Sydney’s Cocktail Island Turbine Hall.
For more information about Deutsche Bank’s longstanding commitment to contemporary art, please visit www.db.com/art.
For more information on Cai Guo-Qiang’s ‘Falling Back to Earth’ exhibition, please visit the GOMA website at www.qagoma.qld.gov.au.