"Gutai art does not alter matter; it gives matter life... In Gutai art, the human spirit and matter, opposed as they are, shake hands... My respect goes out to the works of Pollock and Mathieu. Their works are the cries uttered by matter: by oil paint and enamel themselves." (Yoshihara, Gutai manifesto, 1956)

1. Sensei (teacher) Yoshihara Jiro (1905-1972)
2. Radical Students:
   1. Shimamoto (Shozo) (b. 1928)
   2. Murakami (Saburo) (1920s? Died ca. 1996)
   3. Shiraga (Kazuo) (b. 1924)
   4. Tanaka (Atsuko) (b. 1932)
3. Ready for Fluxus (1964 New York/Germany/Japan art movement)

Slide List

background: Yoshihara and Tapié at informe exhibition in Japan

Yoshihara Mast 1938
Yoshihara Work 1952
Yoshihara Work 1953
Yoshihara Untitled 1962
Shimamoto Trous (Holes) 1950
Shimamoto Hurling Colors 1956
Murakami Tearing Paper 1955
Shiraga Struggle with Clay 1955
Shiraga painting with Feet 1955
Shiraga Untitled 1957
Tanaka Electric Dress 1957

Gutai

Yoshihara, Mast, 1938
Shimamoto, Holes, 1950
Yoshihara, Work, 1952
Yoshihara, Untitled, 1962

Yoshihara began as a talented painter in pre-war Japan, founding his own school (a strong tradition in Japan) and painting in the style of Surrealism. The radical works of students such as Shimamoto led this open-minded sensei (master teacher) to push his own work towards a more violent gestural abstraction. The Gutai (concrete art) group was founded in 1954, and Yoshihara wrote its manifesto in 1956.

Murakami, Tearing Paper, 1955
Shimamoto, Hurling Colors, 1956
Shiraga, Struggle...with clay, 1955
Tanaka, Electric Dress, 1956
Shiraga, Untitled, 1957

Younger artists pushed their Gutai work towards performance. Occasionally, works would result (see Shiraga's foot-painting). Eventually, both market pressures and the encouragement of French curators resulted in a privileging of the objects, and performance waned.