Gutai
Group
The
first radical, post-war group in Japan, founded by
the painter Yoshihara in Osaka in 1954 in response to
the reactionary artistic context of the time. This
influential group, otherwise known as Gutai Bijutsu
Kyokai. was involved in large scale, multimedia
environments, performances and theatrical events.
Precursors to the Happenings of the late 1950s
in New York, many of the group's activities involved
physical acts of exertion. Paintings
were produced as part of performances, and this
emphasis on the process and act of creating a work of
art was to have a significant impact on Pollock and
the Abstract
Expressionists.
Representative
painters:
Morimura, Shiraga, Yoshihara