Work. Atsuko Tanaka

Kee, Joan. “Situating a Singular Kind of 'Action': Early Gutai Painting, 1954-1957” 

The Gutai Group that emerged from Japan during the 1950s gathered much of their inspiration from Pollock's action painting and a movement called the Happening, though were given a back seat to these same artists. This article explores the writings of several Gutai artists, like Atsuko Tanaka and Kazuo Shirago, and how their individuality with violence and whimsy is what brought them forward in their own way, making them identifiable from Pollock and the Happenings.

Oxford Art Journal

Vol. 26, No. 2 (2003), pp. 123-140

 

 

"Atsuko Tanaka (1932 - 2005) -Work." Atsuko Tanaka (1932).

Atsuko Tanaka was greatly influenced by the changing technology og post World War and World War 2 Japan. The circles and lines in her work are made to reflect the bulbs and wires of the city and is especially shown in her “Electric Dress.” The shapes and colors and lines being so whimsically placed allow her to build a metaphor between people and technology.

Christie's, 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/paintings/atsuko-tanaka-work-5904753-details.aspx

 

 

"Gutai Bijutsu Kyokai "Concrete Art Association""

The Manifest of the Gutai Group states that what had been considered art before is a falsification. The materials are changed and molded and destroyed until they are no longer representative or recognizable as their material. They sought to create truth with art by letting the material they use be itself.

Outsider Japan. N.p., n.d. Web.

http://outsiderjapan.pbworks.com/w/page/9758378/Gutai%20Bijutsu%20Kyokai

 

 

Bottinelli, Giorgia. "Holes 1954." TATE.

Shozo Shimamoto mades “Holes” after first creating it on accident due to making a makeshift canvas from newspaper and flour and water for glue. The paper would often tear before he put it on makeshift supports, and the holes made inspired his series. The Gutai Art Association itself is not interested in the final product, but more the process of creating, using materials to their upmost potential.

N.p., Aug. 2002. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T07898

 

 

Goodman, Andrew. "Atsuko Tanaka Diagrams." Into the Diagram.

A blog dedicated to worshipping diagrams, including those of Atsuko Tanaka's diagram “Works” that she performed.

Word Press, 5 Dec. 2011. Web.

https://diagramworkshop.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/atsuko-tanaka-diagrams/

 

 

"Gutai Splendid Playground." A Saint Cloudi Park.

This blog post shows some of the more prominent works form the Gutai group, emphasizing on the works of Shimamoto. He believes that his works go beyond violence, like when he threw glass bottles filled with paint on a canvas on the ground. He worked to create beauty, using what he could find, building on creativity, and letting the materials do the talking. All the Gutai members stand together in their solidarity, showing that their manifesto is their truth.

Tumblr, n.d. Web.

http://asaintcloudipark.tumblr.com/post/43480021376/gutai-splendid-playground

 

 

Ward, Frazer. "Godzilla Is Not a Joke." X-TRA.

This article explores both parts of the Gutai Movement, but emphasizes mostly the first part directly after the war, showing Shiraga Kazuo demonstrating his signature painting style of painting with his feet, making him beyond Pollock because he becomes one with the canvas during the 2nd Gutai Art Exhibition, Ohara Kaikan, Tokyo ca. October 11–17, 1956. Photo: Otsuji Kiyoji, Collection of Musashino Art University Museum & Library, Tokyo. © Otsuji Seiko. The paintings were abstract, but dealt with material in ways that aren't conventional, allowing for the truth of the work to come through.

X-TRA, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

http://x-traonline.org/article/godzilla-is-not-a-joke/

 

 

"Untitled Jiro Yoshihara." Untitled.

The work by Jiro Yoshihara shown on this page is one of his Untitled works. Yoshihara was a co-founder for the Gutai Art Association and wrote the Gutai Manifest that defined and united the Gutai Group. This was before his “satori” series where he sought to create the perfect circle by painting over and over again different circles in different ways as a practice of Zen.

WikiArt, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

http://www.wikiart.org/en/jiro-yoshihara/untitled-1950

 

 

Held, John, Jr. "Gutai: An Annotated Bibliography." Editorial. SFAQ. SFAQ, 22 Oct. 2012. Web.

This is a large bibliography from which we gleaned many sources for our exhibition, therefore making it a source itself. It lists multiple sources of information about the Gutai, from it's formation to its many different exhibitions and major works. This comprehensive guide gives us all the information we could ever want from the movement, even containing first hand accounts from coordinators and the artists themselves, making it an invaluable wealth of knowledge on the subject.

http://sfaq.us/2012/10/gutai-an-annotated-bibliography/

 

 

Artsuko Tanaka's electric dress

Melinda Rackham, Donna Franklin, Mrs Woo, Elliat Rich, Alyce Santoro, Nigel Borell and Gina Matchitt. “Leonardo Gallery: Coded Cloth: A 21st-Century Revolution in Art, Fashion and Design, from the Exhibition Produced by Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT)” MIT Press.

Artsuko Tanaka's “Electric Dress” set the precedent for creative dress and cloth making. The light bulbs and cords that makes up her dress inspired the works for ANAT to create experimental fashion. Donna Franklin from ANAT made a dress from fungi that grows and changes, like the changes colors from the “Electric Dress.” “Hidden” sews the electronics into the clothes to give it warmth and life and the Victorian style juxtaposed with the electronics give the same “old and new” affect as Tanaka's dress.

Leonardo Vol. 42, No. 5 (2009), pp. 386-393

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40540055

 

 

Grosso, Ines. "Tsuruko Yamazaki." : Objeto Para O Mundo.

The sculpture “Red” by Yamazaki explores space and our interaction with it. It being just a red cube made of vinyl that's slightly suspended interrupts the space, but you can interrupt the cube and become flooded with it's color once you step inside. Shadows change the surface of the cube from the outside, it no longer being clean and pure. Playing with light, shadow, color, and space allowed him to experiment with the idea of sculpture and art.

Coletao Inhotim, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

http://doobjetoparaomundo.org.br/en/artista/tsuruko-yamazaki/

 

 

Challenging Mud

"Challenging Mud." Challenging Mud.

The work “Challenging Mud” was a performance art acted by Kazuo Shiraga in the first Gutai exhibition. He interacts directly with the material, leaving behind the conventions of artwork to make the mud and himself the instrument, the canvas, and the artwork. This work embodied the ideas of the Gutai Manifesto with the act of creating the art itself being the artwork.

WikiArt, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

http://www.wikiart.org/en/kazuo-shiraga/challenging-mud-1955

 

 

 

 

Tong, Katherine. "Memory of Shozo Shimamoto, Gutai Artist, Honored." ArtAsiaPacific: Memory Of Shozo Shimamoto Gutai Artist Honored.

A biography of Shozo Shimamoto of the Gutai Movement, he co-founded it with Yoshihara. His venture into the movement and experimentation with space and materials began with his “Holes” series and evolved into throwing glass bottle full of paint, shooting plastic bags of paint throug canons, and shaving his head and using it as a canvas to any and all to write messages on or project films or photos from. He worked with other organizations and groups to continue the ideas of Gutai long after it disbanded with the death of Yoshihara in 1972, and pushed boundaries to the end of his career.

ArtAsia Pacific, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

http://artasiapacific.com/News/MemoryOfShozoShimamotoGutaiArtistHonored