, AsaMER, 2017 Hardback, 320x240mm, 152 pages, English edition, Fine copy. Including an index. FINE ISBN 9789492321442.
Maekawa II presents the work of Japanese artist Tsuyoshi Maekawa ( 1936) during the 1970s. In contrast to Maekawa I, which highlights his art of the previous decade made within the directives of the Gutai Art Association, Maekawa II sheds light on the artist's unremitting efforts to overcome the sudden death of Gutai's leader Jiro Yoshihara in 1972. In this volume, the ceaseless innovations and impulses Maekawa instigated in his post-Gutai practice are brought to the fore. They show the profound exercises and manipulations of sewed and dyed burlap that he shaped into oftentimes highly tactile squares, lines, triangles, and a multitude of colourful yet sober wavy patterns; at times stretched over boxes or loosely draped over walls. The result is a singular exploration of fabric, texture, colour and the possibilities of the canvas at its roughest core. Tsuyoshi Maekawa ( 1936, Japan) is one of the few remaining members of the Gutai Art Association, Japan's most important avant-garde (1954-1972), which has been receiving a lot of international attention the last few years. This book is the first monograph about Maekawa. It brings together many historic images and documents of the Gutai period, found in the archives of the Ashiya City Museum of Art. The work of Tsuyoshi Maekawa ( 1936, Japan) is an ode to matter. From the beginning he chose jute as a his main material. As is common to the art of all Gutai artists, his practice entails an authentic and personal approach with great respect for the material in all its purity. Matter is his true vehicle of expression and represents nothing other than itself. The artist is entirely at the behest of the medium. The tactility he manages to convey is deeply moving. The catalogue contains many unpublished historic image of Maekawa's Gutai period as well as an interview with the artist by Koichi Kawasaki and an essay by internationally renowned Gutai connaisseur Shoichi Hirai
, AsaMER, 2014 Hardback, 320x240mm, 122 pages, English edition, Fine copy. Including an index. FINE ISBN 9789491775413.
Tsuyoshi Maekawa ( 1936, Japan) is one of the few remaining members of the Gutai Art Association, Japan's most important avant-garde (1954-1972), which has been receiving a lot of international attention the last few years. This book is the first monograph about Maekawa. It brings together many historic images and documents of the Gutai period, found in the archives of the Ashiya City Museum of Art. The work of Tsuyoshi Maekawa ( 1936, Japan) is an ode to matter. From the beginning he chose jute as a his main material. As is common to the art of all Gutai artists, his practice entails an authentic and personal approach with great respect for the material in all its purity. Matter is his true vehicle of expression and represents nothing other than itself. The artist is entirely at the behest of the medium. The tactility he manages to convey is deeply moving. The catalogue contains many unpublished historic image of Maekawa's Gutai period as well as an interview with the artist by Koichi Kawasaki and an essay by internationally renowned Gutai connaisseur Shoichi Hirai