# First Gutai Exhibition

The First Gutai Art Exhibition took place at Ohara Hall in Tokyo in October 1955. This exhibition was the first exhibition of the Gutai and displayed artworks created by a group of young artists formed around association leader Jiro Yoshihara. Gutai artists aimed to challenge the formats, materials, and boundaries of painting with projects that explored space, time, and sound. The group's interest was in direct emotion and direct connections between the spirit and the material.

## Background

After the Second World War, the Empire of Japan adopted a new constitution and became a constitutional monarchy. During the post-war economic growth, the social questions of how to concile a modern concept such as individualism with the heritage of the militaristic empire. The artists of the Gutai group believed that the traditional forms of painting practiced in Japan were insufficient to express this aim and sought to articulate a new form of expression that would define a new era of authenticity and creative autonomy. Jiro Yoshihara, inspired by Jackson Pollock, began to explore art going beyond abstract painting, moving into non-traditional processes and performative creations. In the invitation to the exhibition, Jiro Yoshihara articulated the goal of the Gutai artists:
    Today, the genre known as ‘pure art’ really seems to have come up against a huge wall. But with this outrageous method and sincere approach, this new group of people is attempting to break right through that wall.
Gutai artists challenged themselves to produce what they saw as fresh and unconventional forms of art, using everyday materials such as wood, water, plastics, newspaper, sheet metal, fabrics, sand, light, and smoke. They aimed to open a dialogue between the materials and the artist's spirit by attempting to transform the material into something new.:
    Gutai art does not change the material: it brings it to life. Gutai art does not falsify the material. In Gutai art, the human spirit and the material reach out their hands to each other, even though they are otherwise opposed to each other. The material is not absorbed by the spirit. The spirit does not force the material into submission. If one leaves the material as it is, presenting it just as material, then it starts to tell us something and speaks with a mighty voice.
As well as exploring non-art materials, they also experimented with such types of art as performance art, installation art, sound art, and multimedia art. The first show to demonstrate these new approaches was the “Experimental Outdoor Modern Art Exhibition to Challenge the Midsummer Burning Sun” in Ashiya, held three months before the first Gutai Exhibition in Tokyo. One outdoor piece displayed a clear bag of red liquid and sharp sheets of metal hanging from trees, as well as wooden posts scarred with axes and penetrated with nails. Continuing this, the exhibition in Tokyo displayed a wide range of works highlighting the impact of physical action on materials. The works of Gutai artists caught the attention of artist Allan Kaprow and French critic Michel Tapie, both of whom responded favorably.

## Participating artists

* Akira Kanayama
* Toshiko Kinoshita
* Sada masa Motonaga
* Saburo Murakami
* Itoko Ono
* Shozo Shimamoto
* Fujiko Shiraga
* Kazuo Shiraga
* Yasuo Sumi
* Atsuko Tanaka
* Chiyu Uemae
* Yozo Ukita
* Tsuruku Yamazaki
* Toshio Yoshida
* Jiro Yoshihara
* Michio Yoshihara

## Exhibition layout

In the first room, located on the first floor of the hall, were six works by Yasuo Sumi, eight works by Toshio Yoshida, and three works by Saburo Murakami, including both frames from the performance Making Six Holes in One Moment. This room also displayed at least one of the twenty bells that formed Atsuko Tanaka's Work (Bell). Activated by flipping a switch, the bells rang in sequence throughout the rooms of the exhibition.
The second room included Tsuruko Yamazaki's 52 empty tin cans installed on the floor and Akira Kanayama's balloon hung from the ceiling. This room also included works by Murakami, Shozo Shimamoto, and Kazuo Shiraga's two abstract paintings created with his feet.
Fujiko Shiraga's floor path ran throughout the gallery. Beside the path was a stripe work by Yamazaki, a small painting by Jiro Yoshihara, and Tanaka's Work, a hanging piece of pink, fluorescent silk.

## Critical reception

The innovation in using new materials was appreciated by some critics.
The exhibition also received criticism: "From the viewpoint of the subconscious, the work is extremely simple."; "This is a new manifestation of Dada."; and "Sensation alone is meaningless."