Gutai is an avant-garde art movement that emerged in Japan in the mid-1950s, best known for its innovative approach to art-making and its emphasis on experimentation, materiality, and performance.
Read MoreThe term 'Gutai' translates to 'concrete' or 'embodiment', and reflects the Gutai spirit of hands-on material exploration. Throughout its wide-ranging output, the movement asked how to rebuild a Japanese artistic and cultural identity in the wake of the American occupation and the atrocities the nation both experienced and inflicted during World War II.
Gutai was founded by Jiro Yoshihara and a number of other artists in Osaka who sought to push the boundaries of traditional art forms and explore new ways of creating and experiencing art. The movement soon gained international recognition, and many of its artists remain well-known and beloved world-wide today.
One of the defining characteristics of Gutai is its emphasis on materiality. Gutai artists used a wide range of materials—including paint, wood, metal, and even fire—to create tactile and often interactive works.
Not afraid to experiment with unconventional materials, Gutai artists regularly incorporated everyday objects and found matter into their work, such as the eponymous detritus of Yamazaki Tsuruko's Tin Cans (1955).
Gutai artists staged many ground-breaking performances that challenged traditional boundaries between artist and artwork. In these performances, the artist would engage in physical and sometimes risky actions.
In works such as Murakami Saburo's iconic Laceration of Paper (1955)—for which the Gutai artist ran through a paper screen—Gutai performances created a direct connection between the physical act of making and the outcome.
Gutai artists often valued the process of creation over the finished product. They embraced chance and spontaneity in their artistic practice, and regularly allowed their materials to dictate the form of their work.
For Shozo Shimamoto's Throws of Colour (1956), the artist smashed jars of pigment onto a canvas laid out on the floor. In such processes, the artists of Gutai created works that were alive and in the moment, rather than static and predetermined.
In addition to their emphasis on materiality and performance, Gutai artists were interested in the relationship between art and technology. They often explored the use of machines and industrial technologies in their work, including Akira Kanayama's 1957 remote-controlled painting machine.
Gutai artists also explored the concept of collective creativity, believing in art as a collaborative effort that could involve an entire community. Yoshihara Jirō's Please Draw Freely (1956), for example, begins outdoors with a signboard, markers, and an invitation to passers-by to draw.
Gutai remains an influential and celebrated movement in the history of modern and contemporary art. Its innovative approach to art-making continues to inspire artists around the world.
