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ALPHA 137 GALLERY
ALPHA 137 GALLERY
Description
Ay-O
Two Hearts I (from the Estate of Don Rickles), 1980
Silkscreen
Hand signed, dated and numbered by the artist on the front
Romantic gorgeous silkscreen by Japanese Fluxus artist Ay-o, acquired from the estate of the legendary comedian and actor Don Rickles
Measurements:
Frame:
13.25 x 15.25 x 1.5 inches
Print:
12.25 x 14.25 inches
Biography courtesy Wiki:
Ay-O was born Iijima Takao in Ibaraki prefecture in 1931. He studied art at Tokyo University of Education.
Ay-O started his career in the Demokrato Artists Association, along with artists Ei-Q and On Kawara and the photographer Eikoh Hosoe (Demokrato is Esperanto for "democratic).This association promoted artistic freedom and independence in making art. The influence of these values on Ay-O can be seen in a series of early paintings over which he painted a large X because he thought they were not original enough. Another independent movement was close to Demokrato in Japan: Sōzō Biiku by the collector Sadajirō Kubo (久保貞次郞)promoting nurturing freedom when teaching art. Both movements started in Fukui Prefecture in Japan and explain the special bond Ay-O developed with the place. Sōzō Biiku's approach challenges the traditional Japanese Master-Student relationship. As such, like naive art, the movement promotes ways independent to the culturally established ones. Kubo also created the "Small Collector Society" (小コレクターの会) to spread art collection in society.
In 1955, Ay-O founded a group called Jitsuzonsha ("The Existentialists") along with printmaker and writer Masuo Ikeda, artist Hiroshi Manabe, and others. The group staged three exhibitions before dissolving. Some of Ay-O's works from this period show an influence from Fernand Léger with massive bodies on the canvas, such as the 1.83 by 3.7 metres (6 ft 0 in × 12 ft 2 in) Pastoral (Den'en) from 1956. Working closely with Ikeda piqued Ay-O's interest in printmaking, which he would carry with him the rest of his career. Also this period inspired Ay-O's (靉嘔) to pick the title of Sartre's novel as his name (see below).
In 1958, Ay-O relocated to New York City. In 1961, Yoko Ono introduced him to George Maciunas of Fluxus, and Ay-O formally joined Fluxus in 1963. As a member of Fluxus, Ay-O was known for his Finger Boxes series and his performance events. He worked closely with fellow Fluxus artists Maciunas, Emmett Williams, Dick Higgins, and Nam June Paik. Ay-O and Nam June Paik were roommates and became friends in the Soho Fluxus coop.
Ay-O established a reputation in the avant-gardes of Japan, Europe and the United States. In Japan, he is known as the "Rainbow Man" for his use of colorful, rainbow-striped motifs in his artwork. In its purest form, some paintings are simple gradations of the rainbow, with up to 192 gradations.
Ay-O represented Japan at the Venice Biennale in 1966 and at the São Paulo Biennale in 1971. He also built the famed "Tactile Rainbow Room" at the Osaka World's Fair in 1970. In 1971, true to his Demokato debut, he adapted 10 American Naïve paintings and created a rainbow version that he called Nashville Skyline. Ay-O's attachment to Douanier Rousseau's work is another proof of his interest for naïve art. In 1987 he did a series of Rainbow Happenings, with Rainbow Happening #17 being a 300m Rainbow Eiffel Tower project in Paris. As a rainbow artist Ay-O's work embraces abstraction more decisively than in his previous period, and human form when present in a rainbow context becomes itself abstract. One special work from the period 8:15 A.M. (1988), done for Hiroshima's MOCA represents the explosion with his Rainbow palette.
One of his projects in the west was a Collective Portrait of George Maciuanas, that he co-edited with Emmett Williams and Ann Noel. In the recent decade Ay-O has exhibited regularly at the Emily Harvey Gallery in (1996, 2001) and Gallery Itsutsuji (1996,2005,2007,2012) and Gallery Goto (1999,2004) in Japan. In Japan Ay-O is part of the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and Kyoto (see 2005 Tokyo exhibition in the links). In 2001 Ay-O had a room in the special exhibit "La fluxus Constellation" in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Genoa. He was also represented in various other Fluxus exhibitions around the world as "Centraal Fluxus Festival" Centraal Museum, Utrecht (2003), "Fluxus & Non Fluxus Fluxus" Randers kunstmuseum (2006). Being present at both the Venice Biennale in 1966 and at the São Paulo Biennale in 1971, Ay-O was one of the "Twelve Japanese Artists from the Venice Biennale 1952-2001," in Art Tower Mito ATM, Mito. At the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Ay-O was part of two exhibitions: "Tokyo-Berlin / Berlin-Tokyo" in 2005 and "All about laughter" in 2007. The MOMA also has several posts about Ay-O: One about his return to Tokyo in 1966 after 8 years in NY, a few about Japanese contributions to the Fluxus movement, or more generally Fluxus where Ay-O is present. Finally in 2012 the MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART TOKYO (MOT) showed a large retrospective exhibition: "Over the Rainbow once more. This was followed by the retrospective being shown at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art through to January 13 2013. The 300m Rainbow from Happening #17 was part of the show. Hiroshima's MOCA exhibit was the occasion of one more happening performed by Ay-O and his team: a Fluxus revival performance, succession of 30 shorts representing each a different Fluxus artists Video on YouTube. This was Ay-O's way to celebrate the 50th birthday of Fluxus, and a Japanese echo the Wiesbaden events. In 2012 the MOMA produced an exhibit titled: Tokyo 1955-1970 Avant Garde where Ay-O's work in that period are presented.
Ay-O did his most complete retrospective exhibitions in Japan - first in the Fukui Art Museum in 2006 organized the first retrospective. This exhibition was the occasion for the artist to write a bilingual book "Over the Rainbow, Ay-O Retrospective 1950-2006," in which he provides an overview of his work. In 2012 similar retrospective augmented by recent works "Ay-O: Over the Rainbow Once More" is shown in various locations in Japan - the inaugural exhibit was in the Tokyo MOT. The catalog of the 2012 exhibits clarifies a few points of the reference book from the 2006 exhibit.
Provenance:
Acquired from the estate of the legendary comedian and actor Don Rickles