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Lot Essay
SADAHARU HORIO: ILLUSION OF FORM AND COLOUR
Sadaharu Horio first exhibited his works in 1965 at the 15th Gutai Art Exhibition which took place at the Gutai Pinacotheca; one year later in 1966, he officially became a member of the Gutai group. He participated in several historical exhibitions and performance events at the Ashiya City Museum of Art & History starting in 1957 and at Kyoto Independents in 1964. Recent group exhibitions include the Yokohama International Triennial of Contemporary Art (2005); In-Finitum at the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice (2009); Atarimae-No-Koto at the Frankfurt LAB (2011); Moderna Museet in Stockholm (2012); Gutai: Splendid Playground at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (2013).
Since the 1960s, Horio's special interest in using everyday materials and methods of assemblage have distinguished his works. In Failure to the Tableau Thought (Lot 529), Horio no longer uses paint, paintbrush, or a palate knife to create colour blocks, lines and textures. Instead, he works with cloth and thread of different colours and textures to create the work, subtly subverting traditional materials and methods of painting. Complicated creases are form organically in the red, green, black, gold, camel and grayish blue cloth along the sewn seams. As a fabric assemblage, Failure to the Tableau Thought explores the boundary between painting and sculpture, also questioning aspects of art, shape, colour, texture, and composition as well as the relationship between these elements.
Horio's work highlights the inherent beauty of the materials themselves, without seeking any superfluous ornamentation. His work reflects Clement Greenberg's philosophy that emphasizes "truth to material" and "the creative process". Parallels can also be drawn to the works of Alberto Burri, an advocate of arte provera in Italy, (Fig. 1) through both artists' use of hemp and cloth.
Horio's sensitivity towards folding, both irregular and regular, is a crucial element in his art. Perhaps this high level of attention draws its roots from traditional Japanese culture, for instance, furoshiki (a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth traditionally used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods), and origami (the art of paper folding). (Fig. 2) In the 1960s folded canvas accompanied by five stripes of color (orange, blue, green, red, yellow) becomes signature elements of his work. (Fig. 3) In Work 68. B (Lot 528), the five coloured stripes make a strong statement against the ultra-white canvas. Bursting from the four corners, the stripes follow a wave like pattern between the small spheres adhered to the canvas surface in each quadrant, evoking an illusory visual effect, similar to that in Japanese Rinpa art and Op Art . (Fig.4) This deep understanding of the painted surface, collage, assemblage, as well as the relationship between shape and colour distinguishes Horio's unique style within Japanese art.
Sadaharu Horio first exhibited his works in 1965 at the 15th Gutai Art Exhibition which took place at the Gutai Pinacotheca; one year later in 1966, he officially became a member of the Gutai group. He participated in several historical exhibitions and performance events at the Ashiya City Museum of Art & History starting in 1957 and at Kyoto Independents in 1964. Recent group exhibitions include the Yokohama International Triennial of Contemporary Art (2005); In-Finitum at the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice (2009); Atarimae-No-Koto at the Frankfurt LAB (2011); Moderna Museet in Stockholm (2012); Gutai: Splendid Playground at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (2013).
Since the 1960s, Horio's special interest in using everyday materials and methods of assemblage have distinguished his works. In Failure to the Tableau Thought (Lot 529), Horio no longer uses paint, paintbrush, or a palate knife to create colour blocks, lines and textures. Instead, he works with cloth and thread of different colours and textures to create the work, subtly subverting traditional materials and methods of painting. Complicated creases are form organically in the red, green, black, gold, camel and grayish blue cloth along the sewn seams. As a fabric assemblage, Failure to the Tableau Thought explores the boundary between painting and sculpture, also questioning aspects of art, shape, colour, texture, and composition as well as the relationship between these elements.
Horio's work highlights the inherent beauty of the materials themselves, without seeking any superfluous ornamentation. His work reflects Clement Greenberg's philosophy that emphasizes "truth to material" and "the creative process". Parallels can also be drawn to the works of Alberto Burri, an advocate of arte provera in Italy, (Fig. 1) through both artists' use of hemp and cloth.
Horio's sensitivity towards folding, both irregular and regular, is a crucial element in his art. Perhaps this high level of attention draws its roots from traditional Japanese culture, for instance, furoshiki (a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth traditionally used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods), and origami (the art of paper folding). (Fig. 2) In the 1960s folded canvas accompanied by five stripes of color (orange, blue, green, red, yellow) becomes signature elements of his work. (Fig. 3) In Work 68. B (Lot 528), the five coloured stripes make a strong statement against the ultra-white canvas. Bursting from the four corners, the stripes follow a wave like pattern between the small spheres adhered to the canvas surface in each quadrant, evoking an illusory visual effect, similar to that in Japanese Rinpa art and Op Art . (Fig.4) This deep understanding of the painted surface, collage, assemblage, as well as the relationship between shape and colour distinguishes Horio's unique style within Japanese art.