Yozo Ukita

Born: Kita-ku, Osaka, 1924. Died: 2013
Period of Membership in GUTAI : 1955-1965

Ukita became involved in Gutai as a result of the launch preparation for the children’s poetry and fairy-tale magazine, “Kirin”, at Ozaki Shobo, the publishing company where he was employed. The impetus for his meeting Jiro Yoshihara was him visiting to commission a cover for the  “Kirin” launch in 1948. In addition to illustrations and texts by the Gutai Art Association artists, he also actively featured abstract paintings by children in the magazine on the advice of Yoshihara, making it a space for lively exchanges between Gutai and children’s art.
Ukita himself jointed Gutai in 1955 on the encouragement of Yoshihara. He first exhibited at the “Experimental Outdoor Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the Mid-Summer Sun”, a joint exhibition between Ashiya City Art Association and the Gutai Art Association. He created tableaus that emphasized materiality (matière) via the heaping on of a thick layer of paint.