Beyond Matter Tsuyoshi Maekawa with Burri, Castellani, Eielson, Fontana, Manzoni

The Gutai Art Association (GAA), formed in 1954 in Osaka, Japan, asserted individual creativity and international outreach following Japan's wartime isolationism. In relation to Art Informel, Abstract Expressionism, the Dutch Nul collective, and more, Gutai reveals late modernism to be a both global and local network. In 1972, following the death of their cofounder Yoshihara Jiro, members of the GAA gathered to discuss disbanding. Maekawa decided to extend his practice beyond Yoshihara's imperative "Do what no one has done before!" He continued sewing burlap into intricate waveforms, but instead of focusing on the performative radicality that typified Gutai, his subsequent work reveals a shift to methodical experimentation, using thinner layers of paint and refined tactile effects, such as impressions left in the burlap from his own fingers. The exhibition also includes selected works by Alberto Burri, Enrico Castellani, Jorge Eielson, Lucio Fontana, and Piero Manzoni, elaborating a greater global context for Maekawa's work.