Work

Atsuka Tanaka is a Japanese avant-garde post-war artist who was deeply influenced by the avant-garde movement. She is also a member of the Gutai Art Association - a cutting-edge movement founded in 1954 - along with Kazuo Shiraga and many others. Gutai artists have never believed in the limitation of two-dimensional arrangement. They emphasize the textural quality of the material in use and intend to interpret the relationship between materials. Tanaka brings forth the intrinsic characteristics of the very material by imparting meaning into material substances. She is against artists creating under the manipulation of the mind, for it makes every meaning meaningless other than the presentation of material itself.

Featured lots Work (Lot 81) and Work (Lot 80) were executed respectively in 1976 and 1981. Painted with enamels, these two works take the nature of glossy hues further - they present a glaring visual effect through the use of various bright colors. The geometric shapes of circle and rectangle can be read as colored light bulbs, neon lighting tubes, and wires. Interwoven and cooperating, the result of these elements together is simply astonishing. Tanaka Atsuko showed continuous exploration in this aspect throughout his career. In 1956, she presented Electric Dress at the 2nd Gutai Art Exhibition. Comprised of about 100 neon tubes and 80 bulbs covered with 9 enamel colors, this piece was worn by the artist herself. This work reflects the bewildering phenomena of modern life, not unlike the blinking lights; the existential nature of the human being varies with the lights being turned on or off. Ever since then, Tanaka, has developed a series of paintings by applying modern industrial paints such as vinyl paints, resins and enamels based on Electric Dress, exhibiting the textural quality of paints and brilliance of colors. The two featured lots Work embody the representative ideology of the complete series.