{"id":27798,"date":"2018-04-27T15:24:43","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T15:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artzealous.com\/?p=27798"},"modified":"2018-04-27T15:24:43","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T15:24:43","slug":"5-reasons-why-fergus-mccaffreys-gutai-is-worth-the-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/5-reasons-why-fergus-mccaffreys-gutai-is-worth-the-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons Why Fergus McCaffrey’s “Gutai” is Worth the Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re going to be real honest, when we received the invite to the opening reception of\u00a0Gutai: 1953 – 1959\u00a0<\/em>at Fergus McCaffrey<\/a>, we had to re-familiarize ourselves with Post-war Japanese art. But leave it to Fergus McCaffrey to reinvigorate our interest and school us a little bit on the revival of this era. For those unfamiliar with Gutai, it was founded by\u00a0Yoshihara Jir\u014d in 1954, and was the first radical, post-war artist collective in Japan. They were involved in large-scale multimedia environments, performances, and theatrical events. The gallery has been instrumental in introducing post-war Japanese art to the Western market and suffice it to say, they knocked this exhibition out of the park.<\/p>\n

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So why should you check out Gutai: 1953 – 1959<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>?\u00a0Well, we’re glad you asked.<\/p>\n

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1. The works are incredibly profound and are museum quality in both scale and caliber<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Chiyu Uemae, Untitled<\/em>, 1958\/82\/85, Mixed media <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Chiyu Uemae\u2019s 120-lb, 27 years work of obsessively layering paint, nails and matchsticks (seen above) to Kazuo Shiraga\u2019s foot paintings. In fact, art critic Michael Tapie had instructed the Gutai artists to make works on canvas so that he could sell them in hopes to monetize and sustain the group’s legacy.<\/p>\n

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2. The gallery’s intentional placement of works<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Atsuko Tanaka, Work (Bell)<\/em>, 1955\/1993, Twelve bells, wire, motor and switch Installation dimensions variable; length of wire:<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fergus\u2019s intentional placement of both female artists, Fujiko Shiraga and Atsuko Tanaka, next to their husband\u2019s work (Kazuo Shiraga and Akira Kanayama, respectively), reflects just how radical the Gutai group was to include women artists during a sexist time in their society. Be sure not to miss Tanaka’s\u00a0Work (Bell),\u00a0<\/em>in which visitors are\u00a0encouraged to press the button and hold it down to hear the sound of ringing make its way down the 12 bells and back \u2013signifying the performative act of the viewer, while also forcing both the viewer and others around the work to hear it.<\/p>\n

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3. The entrance is a showstopper<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Saburo\u2019s Murakami<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the opening reception, Senior Curator of Asian Art at the Guggenheim, Alexandra Monroe, recreated Saburo\u2019s Murakami \u201cEntrance,\u201d when she burst through the gold sheets of paper. Now all visitors must walk through it to enter the exhibition. The work embodies the fundamental conceptual and performative ideas of Gutai.<\/p>\n

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4. Toshio Yoshida\u2019s burnt works<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Toshio Yoshida, BURN by CF No. 25, 1954, Burnt wood<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A little background on\u00a0Toshio Yoshida.\u00a0Yoshida was one of the great original thinkers and innovators of Gutai. His\u00a0Burn Paintings are seared and scarred plywood panels either with a soldering iron or red hot coals and according to Artnet, predate Yves Klein\u2019s Fire paintings of 1960.<\/p>\n

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5. Sadamasa Motonaga\u2019s Smoke<\/em> machine<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sadamasa Motonaga, Smoke<\/em>, 1955\/2018, Performance with wood, fog and lights<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sadamasa Motonaga\u00a0was a Japanese abstract painter and a founding member of Gutai. As a part of\u00a0the gallery\u2019s exhibition, this Saturday (April 28th, 2018), they will host a\u00a0special live performance of\u00a0Smoke <\/em>at 3PM.\u00a0Smoke\u00a0features fast-moving ethereal smoke rings, colored lights, and a musical score, and it was debuted by\u00a0Motonaga\u00a0in 1956 at\u00a0Outdoor Gutai Art Exhibition. Recreated especially by the artist\u2019s family, this is the first time that\u00a0Smoke\u00a0has been performed in the United States. So that basically means don’t miss it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Gutai: 1953 – 1959 <\/em>is on view at Fergus McCaffrey<\/a>, 514 West 26th Street, New York, April 25 – June 30, 2018.<\/p>\n

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top image \/\/\u00a0Kazuo Shiraga, Untitled, 1959,\u00a0<\/em><\/span>all images \/\/ courtesy of Fergus McCaffrey<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re going to be real honest, when we received the invite to the opening <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,23,11,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}