Motonao Takasaki

Born: Kochi,1923. Died:2017
Period of Membership in GUTAI: 1966-1972

After studying sculpture at Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts), Takasaki exhibited at the Modern Art Exhibition from 1952, later joining the Modern Art Association in 1957. His first encounter with Gutai was in 1965, at the first Japan Art Festival exhibition, where he responded to the works of Jiro Yoshihara, Kazuo Shiraga, and Sadamasa Motonaga. Following this, he participated in the 17th Gutai Art Exhibition the next year and became a member.

Takasaki’s ”Apparatuses”, which he began creating from around 1963, are composed of numerous white square pieces of canvas lined up atop a black base. The slight warping in each canvas casts shadows over the piece, thereby evoking the passage of time. Takasaki’s paintings, which hint at rich differences through simple repetition, show the materiality of painting in a discreet manner.