TSUYOSHI MAEKAWA

Tsuyoshi Maekawa was a member of the Gutai Art Association and participated in the 8th Gutai Exhibition at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art in 1959. Following Maekawa's first solo exhibition at the Gutai Pinacotheca in 1963, he participated in every Gutai event until the group's eventual dissolution following Yoshihara's death in 1972. Maekawa uses linen cloth to create paintings that have uneven surfaces resembling relief sculptures. His style focuses on the materiality of 'physical things', unlike other GUTAI artists who are more inclined to Abstract Expressionism. By utilizing the flexible but rigid properties of linen cloth, Maekawa achieved a wide range of expressions, ranging from bold and powerful to flowing and smooth. First, he lays a canvas painted with oil paint flat on the floor and applies pieces of linen cloth dipped in glue onto the canvas. Then, while the glue is still setting, he shapes the fabrics into various forms and cuts them open, partially revealing the painting underneath. This style of expression, which reveals the painting through the gaps in the brown linen fabric, evokes a similar sensation similar to looking out through an open window. It also creates a sense of depth and perspective, providing the viewer with a unique visual experience. By creating tableaux in two stages, using a canvas painted with oil and linen cloth dipped in glue, Maekawa pioneered a new field of material painting. This innovative approach produces a unique stereoscopic effect and imbues the artwork with a sense of depth and space.

After the dissolution of GUTAI, Maekawa further developed his style of paintings by incorporating dungarees and presenting works composed of delicately sewn softer fabrics using a sewing machine. These artistic endeavours earned him many awards in the 1980s.

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50 Years Since the End | The Gutai Art Association as seen at the National Museum of Art, Osaka

January 4, 2023
ART NEWS

50 Years Since the End | The Gutai Art Association Revives at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka

December 27, 2022
ART NEWS

“Into the Unknown World — GUTAI: Differentiation and Integration” at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art and the National Museum of Art

October 19, 2022
Osaka, Japan

Interview with Tsuyoshi Maekawa: An Artist Who Created a Unique Form of Expression in Fabric

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
13/35

Gutai Art and Originality by Artist: Tsuyoshi Maekawa

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
12/35

Japan's Unique Formative Art in the Work of Second Generation Gutai Artist: Tsuyoshi Maekawa

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
11/35

Art Historian Kunio Motoe’s Take On the “Gutai Art Association”

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
01/35

EXHIBITIONS

2021: The Pioneer of Postwar Japanese Art : Whitestone Gallery, Taipei
Solo Exhibition, Whitestone Gallery, Tokyo
2020: Solo Exhibition, Karuizawa New Art Museum, Nagano
2019: Tsuyoshi Maekawa 1980 – Present, New Art Lab, Tokyo
Yamamura Collection Exhibition, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo
Selected 54th Award of Person of Cultural Merit of Osaka Citizen
2018: Solo Exhibition, Whitestone Gallery, Tokyo
Solo Exhibition, Whitestone Gallery, USA
2017: Tsuyoshi Maekawa in the 1970s, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp
Beyond Matter, Gagosian, San Francisco
SALON 001: Tsuyoshi Maekawa, Saatchi Gallery, London
The Strength of Matter: Tsuyoshi Maekawa, Whitestone Gallery, Taipei
2016: Gutai: Selected Small Works, Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong
2015: Avant Garde Asia – Gutai and its Legacy, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery, Hong Kong
Tsuyoshi Maekawa: Energy Extortionist, Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong
2014: Maekawa – The Gutai Works, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Dominique Levy, New York
2013: 'Gutai: Splendid Playground' (New York, Guggenheim Museum)
'50 Years of Japanese Painting' (The Museum of Modern Art Wakayama)
'Tapies, the Eye of the Artist' (Venice, Fortuny Museum)
2012: 'Gutai: The Spirit of an Era' (The National Art Center Tokyo)
2011: 'Nul=0' (Holland, Stedelijk Museum)
2007: '30 Years Collecting' (National Museum of Art, Osaka)
2005: 'Hyogo International Painting Competition' (Hyogo Prefectural Museum)
2002: Hyogo Prefectural Museum Inaugural Exhibition
2001: 'Osaka Art Panorama' (Osaka ATC Gallery)
1999: Paris Gutai Exhibition (France, Jeu de Paume National Gallery)
1989: Special Exhibition - Contemporary Design (The Museum of Modern Art Wakayama)
Rare Yamamura Collection Exhibition (Hyogo Prefectural Museum)
1986: A B C Painting Exhibition [Best In Show Award]
Gutai - Action and Painting Exhibition (Spain, Yugoslavia)
1985: 'Contemporary Japan' Painting Exhibition (New Delhi, National Museum of Modern Art)
1982: Contemporary Japanese Painting Exhibition [Grand Prize]
Japan-France Contemporary Art Exhibition [Second Prize, '83 Third Prize]
Japanese International Art Exhibition [The National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto Prize]
Japanese Embassy Prize Art Exhibition [National Museum of Art Osaka Prize]
1970: 'Osaka National Exposition' (Exposition Green Building)
1968: 'Nighttime-Only Gutai Exhibition' (Miyazaki)
1967: Gutai Holland Sketch Exhibition (Rotterdam, Design House)
Gutai Austria Exhibition (Wulfengasse, Heide Hildebrand Gallery)
1966: Lausanne International Exhibition (Musée Cantonal Des Beaux-Arts)
Gutai Holland Exhibition (The Hague, Olets International Art Gallery)
Gutai 3-Artist Exhibition (Gutai Pinacoteca)
1965: Gutai Paris Exhibition (Paris, Galerie Stadler)
1963: Solo Exhibition (Gutai Pinacoteca)

COLLECTIONS

National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto / National Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka / Miyagi Prefectural Museum of Fine Art / Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art / Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art / Wakayama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art / Ashiya City Museum of Art & History / Takamatsu City Museum of Art / Osaka City Museum of Modern Art / Hikami Municipal Museum of Art, Hyogo / Contemporary Art Hasegawa Museum, Shizuoka / Hira Museum of Art, Shiga / Ube City / And U.S, France, Holland, Australia etc. /