About the Exhibition

Karuizawa New Art Museum has been reexamining the superb Japanese art with the aim of spreading great artworks thoughout the world. We have been re-categorizing the greatest art worth international attention as, "new art". Karuizawa New Art Museum is proud to present Gutai-jin in Karuizawa, an exhibition focusing on the "Gutai Art Association", an avant-garde artists' group which is considered to be one of the pioneers of contemporary art fields such as performance art, happenings, and installations.

The "Gutai Art Association" is acknowledged as a very important movement during 1960s, which dountlessly challenged the traditional, conservative Japanese art field. The "Gutai Art Association" forged ahead in the international art scene. In recent years, this movement has been reevaluated in the retrospective exhibitions held by Guggenheim museum and the National Art Center, Tokyo.

However, a majority of past exhibitions of "Gutai Art Association" were focused on the so-called "Gutai period", which was from the foundation in 1954 until the dissolution in 1972. These exhibitions only featured works made during the "Gutai period". Moreover, each artist which belonged to the "Gutai Art Association" continued their activity individually, even after the dissolution of the group. Artists from Gutai never stop putting the founder Jiro Yoshihara's advice into practice. "Don't copy anyone! Do something no one's ever done before!"

Highlights of this exhibition include works range from the "Gutai period" to the present. We call the Gutai artists "Gutai-jin" or "Gutai people" , emphasizing their lifelong career and focusing on each artist's solo activity as an avant-garde artist. Each Gutai-jin will be introduced in the form of a solo exhibition within Gutai-jin in Karuizawa. Gutai-jin in Karuizawa provides the audience with an opportunity to experience the origin of Japanese contemporary art by presenting a sophisticated tableau which expresses the fusion of Gutai sprit and individualistic philosophy: a path of action painting utilized bodies and unexpected tools.



[On Display〕
Kazuo Shiraga [ July 1st 2015 ~ September 23rd 2015]
Sadamasa Motonaga [ July 1st 2015 ~ September 23rd 2015]
Atsuko Tanaka [ July 1st 2015 ~ September 23rd 2015]
Yutaka Matsuda [ July 1st 2015 ~ September 23rd 2015]
Michio Yoshihara [ July 1st 2015 ~ September 23rd 2015]
Shuji Mukai [ July 1st 2015 ~ September 23rd 2015]



〔Past Exhibitions〕
Jiro Yoshihara – Meaning of the Circle [October 1st 2014 ~ December 25th 2014]
Yasuo Sumi – Devil May Care Spirit [October 1st 2014 ~ December 25th 2014]
Takesada Matsutani － The Sensuous Vitality of Jet-black and Milky White [January 1st 2015 ~ June 22nd 2015]
Chiyu Uemae – Universe in the Picture [October 1st 2014 ~ June 22nd 2015]
Yuko Nasaka – Infinite Space of Concentric Circles [November 5th 2014 ~ June 22nd 2015]
Senkichiro Nasaka – a Fusion of Color-Consciousness [November 5th 2014 ~ June 22nd 2015]
Tsuyoshi Maekawa － Burlap Ripples [January 1st 2015 ~ June 22nd 2015]


Main image : Jiro Yoshihara, Circle, 1971/45.5×53.0cm/ Oil on canvas