1962 - 64

Aged 17, Hisashi Indo began working as an engineer in the research centre of Hokkaido University. He was deeply affected by an incident where he narrowly avoided an almost certain death when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. He was due to go there a few days after as a military engineer, but the trip was cancelled. He began painting in around 1947 and from this point on, he began to question why he was alive and constantly returned to this question in his work. Although his early work included colour, in 1956 he visited Tokyo for the first time, and saw first-hand the rapid post-war modernization that had taken place, a stark contrast to the more rural Hokkaido he was accustomed to. His work became more simplified and abstract, focusing on white, black and brown and green, however he began looking for a colour that for him represented neutral space and found purple, a colour he used until the end of his life.

Hisashi Indo was far from a prolific artist, spending an extraordinary two and a half years to complete a work. He applied paint to canvas, allowed it to dry, polished the surface, applied further paint and polished it again, painstakingly building up layer upon layer. The result is a purple, almost black monochrome, producing an extraordinary level of complexity and texture using only one single colour.

Although Hisashi Indo was working during the same period as Gutai, he was not a follower of the movement.

Other works by the artist are in The National Museum of Art, Osaka (see http:/search.artmuseums.go.jp/search_e/index.php, Work 60.5.28.A-‘Ri’, Work 60.12.25.B, and Work 60.12.25.A) and The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (see http:/search.artmuseums.go.jp/search_e/index.php,Work 1963.8.1.A and Work 67.10.8).