From the early 1960s until the 1970s Matsutani was a key member of the 'second generation' of the influential post war Japanese art collective, the Gutai Art Association. Over five decades Matsutani has developed a unique visual language of form and materials. As part of the Gutai group, Matsutani experimented with vinyl glue, using fans and his own breath to manipulate the substance, creating bulbous and sensuous forms reminiscent of human curves and features.
Read MoreIn 1966, Matsutani received a grant from the French government after winning first prize in the 1st Mainichi Art Competition and subsequently moved to Paris where he began working at Stanley William Hayter's renowned printmaking studio, Atelier 17. During the four years he worked at the studio, he learnt French, married and established his base in Paris. Working alongside Hayter opened Matsutani up to a new form of artistic experimentation and offered him a newfound confidence. Matsutani began to rethink his practice and a new elemental aesthetic language began to emerge that was both controlled and organic.
After the Gutai group disbanded in 1972, Matsutani eased into a radical yet consistent new body of work, informed by his experience at Atelier 17. Faithful to his Gutai roots, he strove to identify and convey the essential character of vinyl glue with graphite, that were to become his signature materials. Matsutani began creating vast expanses of metallic black graphite on mural-size sheets of paper built up with painstaking individual strokes. This ritualized manner presents a time-based record of his gestures, while reminiscent of his artistic beginnings in Japan, it has been translated into an artistic language that is uniquely his own.
Text courtesy Hauser & Wirth.
Takesada Matsutani manipulated vinyl adhesive by blowing pockets of air into bulbous forms through his mouth or with a hairdryer.
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This beautiful 1986 painting by Japanese Gutai artist, Takesada Matsutani, featured in Hauser & Wirth's FIAC OVR.
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Hans Ulrich Obrist discusses influences, materials, and trajectories with Takesada Matsutani, a second-generation Gutai protagonist. Throughout his career, Matsutani has continuously developed his voi
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It is easy to drive past the clutch of buildings that are Hauser & Wirth's rural outpost in Somerset. They are inconspicuous alongside similar farmsteads concealed in an agrarian landscape of steep in
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Takesada Matsutani has been firmly implanted in France after decades of expatriation, and yet retains a distinctly Japanese sensibility to his experimental, gestural practice and exploration of unusua
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'It's important to allow your early work to continue to influence you,' says Takesada Matsutani (b. 1937), pointing to the paintings, drawings, and writings on the floors, pillars, and walls of his cr
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In his Paris studio, Japanese-born artist Takesada Matsutani talks about how he came to join the Gutai Art Association in 1963, moved to Paris in 1966, and how vinyl adhesive glue and graphite have su
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Takesada Matsutani talks about his life and work on the occasion of his first Los Angeles solo exhibition on view at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles from 1 July through 3 September 201
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