Shozo Shimamoto (Japanese, 1928 -2013) Lot n° 12

Ana Esquisse – 1962 [Hole] Ink and gouache on torn paper 36,4 x 51,3 cm Signed lower right Provenance: Hundermark Gallery, Cologne Private collection, Belgium Exhibited: Hundermark Gallery, Cologne, Shozo Shimamoto, Gutai Works, 24 August - 4 October 1997 Marcon, Venice, Padiglione delle Arti, “e” – Gutai Paintings in the Midsummer Burning Sun, 25 July - 5 September 2015 With a certificate of authenticity by the artist, dated 11/11/2004. The work is included in the Associazione Shozo Shimamoto archives under number 1061. Shozo Shimamoto was one of the founding members of the Gutai Bijutsu Kyokai (Gutai Art Association) that was formed in 1954 in Osaka by Yoshihara Jiro, Kanayama Akira, Murakami Saburo, Shiraga Kazuo, and Shozo Shimamoto. It was actually Shimamoto who came up with the name Gutai, usually translated as ‘embodiment’ or ‘concrete’. This work on paper, Ana – Esquisse, should be placed amidst a series of works called “Holes” (Ana in Japanese) that Shimamoto started around 1949-1950. Focusing on the texture of the used materials - ink and torn paper, glued with a mixture of flour and water - and the process of creation itself - the tearing of the paper to make the underlying support visible and almost explosive composition of ink splashes, this type of works was at the heart of a new art practice in post-war Japan that lead to the creation of the Gutai movement a few years later. Gutai focused on materials in a way that blurred the distinction between creation and destruction. Interestingly, the result of such a violent creation process led to a delicate and balanced result, a contrast that is often considered typical Japanese and the appreciation or definition of beauty in Japanese culture.