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Lot Essay
'I think that no matter what you do, as long as you use your body when you do it, it will become a very meaningful thing.
- Kazuo Shiraga
Kazuo Shiraga, born in 1924 in Amagasaki, Japan, was one of the best-known artists in the first generation Gutai group. Gutai was founded in 1954 and disbanded in 1972, though Shiraga was an active participant throughout its entire history.
The members of the Gutai group, led by Jiro Yoshihara, became aware in the post-WWII years that traditional forms of art had become too detached from the lives of ordinary people. They therefore devoted themselves to overturning tradition, in terms of materials, techniques, and the very nature of art itself, searching for the possibilities of contemporary life in their post-war world. In Shiraga's creative philosophy, rebellion against orthodoxy began with innovation in terms of his materials and the use of his own body, after which he proceeded to a redefinition of consciousness and spirituality. It was not the intention of the Gutai artists to alter the materials themselves, so much as it was to inject 'consciousness' into them.
For Shiraga, the parts of his body (his two feet, his overall physique) were non-conscious vehicles that responded to the intuitions and the spontaneous improvisations of his spirit and will; they wanted to run, to rush and break through the limits of the picture frame. Yet 'body,' 'materials,' and 'the unconscious' actually remained within the realm of the artist's control: each element during the process of preparation, from selecting combinations of colours and their quantities, the size of the canvas and the scope of the composition to be placed on it, and even the ability to control with his bare feet the thickness, luster, or brightness of the oil pigments — in each of these we can see careful planning on Shiraga's part, allowing him to achieve an ideal balance between the elements of control and random improvisation.
Shiraga was on the front lines in transforming the notion of 'subjectivity' in painting, while also exploring painting techniques. He once said, 'I think that no matter what you do, as long as you use your body when you do it, it will become a very meaningful thing. [...] If I say that the actions involved in the creative process can themselves produce greater understanding and inspiration, maybe that will sound strange, but more and more I believe that this is a matter of great importance.' Shiraga abandoned all the tools traditionally associated with painting, the brushes, palette knives, and easels, and laid his canvases out flat on the floor. Then, using ropes to hang in the air, he mixed and spread the paint pigments with his bare feet, letting his two feet dance out their most wild, unrestrained, almost violent yet dazzling and beautiful works. Shiraga believed that as long as he used his hands and the usual painting instruments, deep rooted painting habits would inevitably take over; by using his two feet he could reduce conscious, artificial manipulation and realise more ‘Gutai’ creative concepts.
Untitled is a classic Shiraga work, the textures and the rhythmic motion in it constituting an exposition of his basic creative concepts. Dense, thick oil pigments of inky black occupy a central position on the canvas. The viewer's eye will then be attracted by the strong swirls of vermilion red flying out from the center, and in our mind's eye we can almost see Shiraga's resolute figure as he sways and spins above the canvas, spreading the paint with the soles of his feet, mixing together the red-orange and pitch-black pigments. The visual image of the artist's strong, soldierly figure as he paints may remind one of the explosive power of sumo wrestlers and their powerful clashes in the ring. A thinner layer of light indigo blue shows through beneath the red and black, while spots of steel blue spread casually toward the sides.
The colour combinations that emerge and clash through different pressures and movements seem to reproduce the wrestling match between 'body' and 'materials' at the moment of the artist's creation. Even in these layers and combinations of red, blue, and black we can see Shiraga's precise calculations, beginning with the thin base layer of black he applies in the upper left, followed by a swath of blue; then he exerts great effort to apply a thick layer of red-orange, and finally, he adds a few random drops of very thin indigo on top. The work at each moment, in its thick or its thin pigments, and in the artist's strenuous efforts or his relaxed movements, is subject to the artist's control. That control, however, is countered by the equal forces of the materials and the artist's own unconscious mind.
Untitled perfectly displays Shiraga's ability to use colour and physical strength as he explores 'the body' and 'materials,' and the unknown aspects of 'subjectivity' and 'control.' It is a work that arouses a kind of primal energy within the viewer, its colour and implicit motion calling forth the hidden elements of ecstasy, release, and power. Shiraga's work radiates this kind of internal spiritual pursuit and artistic innovation, and indeed a certain kind of adventurous spirit of reform in painting can be seen in all of the Gutai artists. Artistically burning their bridges behind them, they were determined to never look back, and in doing so they redefined the vocabulary and the possibilities of Japanese post-war art.
- Kazuo Shiraga
Kazuo Shiraga, born in 1924 in Amagasaki, Japan, was one of the best-known artists in the first generation Gutai group. Gutai was founded in 1954 and disbanded in 1972, though Shiraga was an active participant throughout its entire history.
The members of the Gutai group, led by Jiro Yoshihara, became aware in the post-WWII years that traditional forms of art had become too detached from the lives of ordinary people. They therefore devoted themselves to overturning tradition, in terms of materials, techniques, and the very nature of art itself, searching for the possibilities of contemporary life in their post-war world. In Shiraga's creative philosophy, rebellion against orthodoxy began with innovation in terms of his materials and the use of his own body, after which he proceeded to a redefinition of consciousness and spirituality. It was not the intention of the Gutai artists to alter the materials themselves, so much as it was to inject 'consciousness' into them.
For Shiraga, the parts of his body (his two feet, his overall physique) were non-conscious vehicles that responded to the intuitions and the spontaneous improvisations of his spirit and will; they wanted to run, to rush and break through the limits of the picture frame. Yet 'body,' 'materials,' and 'the unconscious' actually remained within the realm of the artist's control: each element during the process of preparation, from selecting combinations of colours and their quantities, the size of the canvas and the scope of the composition to be placed on it, and even the ability to control with his bare feet the thickness, luster, or brightness of the oil pigments — in each of these we can see careful planning on Shiraga's part, allowing him to achieve an ideal balance between the elements of control and random improvisation.
Shiraga was on the front lines in transforming the notion of 'subjectivity' in painting, while also exploring painting techniques. He once said, 'I think that no matter what you do, as long as you use your body when you do it, it will become a very meaningful thing. [...] If I say that the actions involved in the creative process can themselves produce greater understanding and inspiration, maybe that will sound strange, but more and more I believe that this is a matter of great importance.' Shiraga abandoned all the tools traditionally associated with painting, the brushes, palette knives, and easels, and laid his canvases out flat on the floor. Then, using ropes to hang in the air, he mixed and spread the paint pigments with his bare feet, letting his two feet dance out their most wild, unrestrained, almost violent yet dazzling and beautiful works. Shiraga believed that as long as he used his hands and the usual painting instruments, deep rooted painting habits would inevitably take over; by using his two feet he could reduce conscious, artificial manipulation and realise more ‘Gutai’ creative concepts.
Untitled is a classic Shiraga work, the textures and the rhythmic motion in it constituting an exposition of his basic creative concepts. Dense, thick oil pigments of inky black occupy a central position on the canvas. The viewer's eye will then be attracted by the strong swirls of vermilion red flying out from the center, and in our mind's eye we can almost see Shiraga's resolute figure as he sways and spins above the canvas, spreading the paint with the soles of his feet, mixing together the red-orange and pitch-black pigments. The visual image of the artist's strong, soldierly figure as he paints may remind one of the explosive power of sumo wrestlers and their powerful clashes in the ring. A thinner layer of light indigo blue shows through beneath the red and black, while spots of steel blue spread casually toward the sides.
The colour combinations that emerge and clash through different pressures and movements seem to reproduce the wrestling match between 'body' and 'materials' at the moment of the artist's creation. Even in these layers and combinations of red, blue, and black we can see Shiraga's precise calculations, beginning with the thin base layer of black he applies in the upper left, followed by a swath of blue; then he exerts great effort to apply a thick layer of red-orange, and finally, he adds a few random drops of very thin indigo on top. The work at each moment, in its thick or its thin pigments, and in the artist's strenuous efforts or his relaxed movements, is subject to the artist's control. That control, however, is countered by the equal forces of the materials and the artist's own unconscious mind.
Untitled perfectly displays Shiraga's ability to use colour and physical strength as he explores 'the body' and 'materials,' and the unknown aspects of 'subjectivity' and 'control.' It is a work that arouses a kind of primal energy within the viewer, its colour and implicit motion calling forth the hidden elements of ecstasy, release, and power. Shiraga's work radiates this kind of internal spiritual pursuit and artistic innovation, and indeed a certain kind of adventurous spirit of reform in painting can be seen in all of the Gutai artists. Artistically burning their bridges behind them, they were determined to never look back, and in doing so they redefined the vocabulary and the possibilities of Japanese post-war art.