YUTAKA MATSUZAWA

Born in Shimo-Suwa, Suwa District, Nagano Prefecture, Matsuzawa (1922-2006) was a pioneer of conceptual art who continued to promote his art both domestically and internationally from his base in the area. 　

Matsuzawa’s impressionable childhood and adolescence were spent during Japan’s turbulent times, from the Manchurian Incident to the Pacific War and its defeat. The fundamental experiences he had in his youth can be said to be the backdrop for his examination of matter and criticism of civilisation that underlie his art. Throughout his life, he pursued creative endeavours with the aim of communicating the invisible to people around the world. His artistic practice began with poetry, then evolved into paintings and sculptures, known as ‘art through colour,’ and, since 1964, has shifted to ‘art through language,’ or artistic expression without material substance. 　

In the 1950s, Matsuzawa’s works, exhibited at the Bijutsu Bunka Kyokai (Art and Culture Association) and Yomiuri Independent exhibitions, expressed his own thoughts through colour. He repeatedly experimented with paint materials, experimenting with a variety of materials, including crayons, wax, clay, and paint. His unique paintings featured layered textures, mandala forms inspired by the Mandala of the Two Realms, and the use of symbols. 　

On June 1, 1964, he received a revelation commanding him to ‘erase the object.’ As a methodology and antithesis to modern civilisation, he resolved to abandon the object and create artworks solely using words. From then on, in the 1960s, Matsuzawa continued to experiment with exhibiting ‘concepts.’ His Independents ‘64 in the Wilderness, published in the advertisement section of Bijutsu Journal No. 51 (October 1964), is Matsuzawa’s most notable artwork, exploring communication, expression, and concepts. He also presented a series of unique and innovative works in solo and group exhibitions, such as Ah Nil Ah, the Induction Ceremony of the Mystical Body of Psi in the Wilderness, at his solo exhibition at Naika Gallery, which attempted to turn the exhibition space itself into a space for contemplation. The ‘art through language’ of this period poetically unfolds Matsuzawa Yutaka’s art theory, as if inviting the viewer into a world of contemplation. His work My Death (A Painting That Exists Only in Time), which he exhibited at the 10th International Art Exhibition of Japan (Man and Matter exhibition, Tokyo Biennale) in 1970, utilises the ‘space’ of the exhibition room itself, posting text in the hallway that viewers must pass through to encourage contemplation, and turning the images evoked in their minds into ‘paintings.’ This work is representative of Matsuzawa’s conceptual art of this period. 　This exhibition will introduce the ‘art of colour’ of the 1950s, which features beautiful colors and textures, the early ‘art of language’ created around the time of his 1964 revelation to ‘erase objects,’ and his representative conceptual work, My Death, from 1970. Enjoy the essence of Matsuzawa Yutaka’s conceptual art.煤soot