After the dissolution of “The Gutai Art Association”, Tsuyoshi Maekawa who created a delicate painting style by soft Hemp cloths, tried further development.
From around mid-1980s, he began to make artworks using not only hemp cloth but also other fabrics such as cotton and combine them together. And besides, he started to use paint again, which he forbade himself to use after the death of his instructor, Jiro Yoshihara.
In addition, from around 1990, the lines made by pin-tucks became wider and wider, and the ones stretching in oblique directions began to draw curves, which showed various expression just like drawings.
As these lines were created by sewing pin-tucks, we can imagine that he acquired the ability to manipulate to draw lines through much time and many prototypes.
In Work(No.170711), a shape like a trapezoid halved in the center of the painting is inlaid with hemp cloths in different colors. On that shape, pin-tucks are sewed equally in a vertical direction. The thickness of these pin-tucks on the both right and left end is about only one millimeter, but it is getting thicker and thicker toward the central part, and then it becomes about one and a half centimeters in the center. As a center core of polyethylene round stick wrapped around with hemp cloths is sewn in the thickest pin-tucks, the central part of the painting is somewhat swollen and sticking out. In the interpretation about exhibition space #2, the pluralism found in the paintings with hemp cloths is introduced. Here, moreover, it looks like even a distortion in space-time on the painting is materialized by hemp cloths.
In this painting, oil paint dissolved in a lot of oil edge the outline of trapezoid. As the first coat of paint is not applied to the hemp cloths, oil sinks into them and make patterns of oil stain in patches on the painting. Responding to the soft shape of trapezoid, gently curved lines are drawn on the painting by letting fall a few drops of black or white oil paints. Maekawa tried to make artworks in which calculation and accidents are blended together by overlapping cloths and paints. This trial used to be made before using burlap as a material(*3), while hemp cloths were used this time.
We can say that characteristics of Maekawa’s artworks is not only usage of fabric material and paintings, but various figures drawn in the center of the paintings, which is his creation of unique form. In exhibition space #3, the wonder of his creation is introduced along with ceramics produced by Maekawa.
About his artworks, he has always said, “literary and religious elements don’t exist in my works”. In other words, “shape” is not something expressed figuratively, but just “a pure abstract expression” for Maekawa.
In Work (No.170715), semicircles are drawn by inlaying hemp cloths in different colors. There is a beige semicircle with something like a tail in the lower part of a white semicircle. As a gradation of black acrylic is added to the outline of the beige semicircle, that part looks like a shadow and the beige part appears to be dented.
Comparatively, ceramic Work (No.1912013) has a semicircle shape with a gusset, which was constructed using slab building(*4) technique. There is a hollow inside, and furthermore, the center of one wall surface is hollowed out. The edge of the wall surface with hollow was cut in two different ways, one of which was cut straight by a paddle and the other was torn by hands. Here, we can also see a comparison between calculation and accidents.
Comparing these two artworks, we can find out clearly that Maekawa is conscious of spaces produced in front, in the center, and at the back of the semicircle shape reached by going through the center.
This way of grasping spaces may be based on Maekawa’s body sensation acquired during his production process, through many attempts of creation using cloths as materials.
Here, before theory, there is candor to find out a shape by body sensation when he touched materials.
According to Maekawa, in his Gutai days, the good or the bad of artworks were determined by Yoshihara’s saying, “Fun” (Omoroi in Osaka dialect of Japanese) or “Nah” (Akan in Osaka dialect of Japanese). This way of criterion for judgement is actually very hard for both Yoshihara, himself and the members. Because it is a head-on serious match to the very end.
It can be said that the characteristics of Maekawa’s production is to pursue the criterion of “Fun” based on his body sensation and to materialize it as a pure abstract expression through the designer’s sensibility introduced in #2.
Maekawa has continued to develop his own expression with hemp cloths, created around 1980, and since then, by making some changes and adding ideas, he has expanded his range of expression. To keep on developing “Fun” is to take steps toward uncharted territory. In other words, it can be said that production could mean development of freedom for Maekawa.
*1 Please refer to #2 Exhibition Space 2
*2 The technique that one material is set a different material, often seen in metals and ceramic ware.
*3 Please refer to#1-2 Exhibition Space1
*4 The technique used for ceramics. Slice clay thinly or flatten it with a bar to make board-like shapes and construct them.
【Images】(From the top)
Work (No. 170711), 1990, 227.3×363.6cm, Hemp cloth,sew,oil
Work (No. 170715), 1998, 181.0×227.0cm, Hemp cloth, sew, acrylic
Work (No. 1912013), 1997, 19.5×36.5×17.0cm, Ceramic
Next is #4 Exhibition Space 4
“Colors” which Maekawa once forbade himself to use, revive vividly.
TSUYOSHI MAEKAWA: “Dongoros”is animated by Maekawa.Maekawa expresses through the pure abstraction of colors, forms, and materials showing as they really are.
Period: February 8(sat)-June 28(sun), 2020.
July 4th (Sat)~ The extended session has been closed on October 4.
○ Further information about the exhibition
Here