‘The Action Painting of Kazuo Shiraga Shoichi Hirai Sorey missed since is deathin Apel ofl yeas, Kazuo Shiraga was an abstract artist who was highly r= spected both in Japan and in the West for is ation paint Sings which he crested by siding his are fst across a can~ ‘8 spread out on the lor while holding on to rope that was suspended from the ceiling. “The term “action painting” was coined by the ‘American art critic Harold Rosenberg in his 1952 essay “The American Action Painters,” and in general, referred ‘ta works in which an emphasis was placed on “action” uch 8 sprinkling or splashing paint, and violently running « brush across the canvas Ata certain moment the canvas began to appeat to ‘one American painter after another as an arena in which to acter than asa space in which to reproduc, re-design, analyze or“express”an object, actual or imagined, What was to goon the canvas was nota picture but an event. The paint- crno longer approached his easel with an image in his mind; ‘he went up toitwith material in his hand todo something to ‘that other pice of material in front of him. The image would be the result ofthis encountes! ‘What Rosenberg meant when he refered to this expanding group of American painters was artists like Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollack who were work ing in New Yorkeduring tht period, Butitseems to me that the work of Kazuo Shiraga, which placesa stronger emph sis on actions suchas gesting inside the canvas and making. use of the body than that of de Kooning, who never went icp bel diel et aczucooe eco eee | Sera tome eee 1952 and Shirage didn’t begin using his fet to paine until | ‘wo years later, the American critic had no way of seeing Shiragas work. Ifhe had, however, Rosenberg would have surely been amazed to find that “stion painting,” in its most ideal form, had emerge far across the Pacific Ocean in Jgpan ~ and perhaps he would never have published his farnous ess. 2 Kazuo Shiraga was born in 1924 in Amagasuki, Hyogo Prefecture. Shiraga first set out to be a painter around the time that he was a second year student at Hyogo Prefec- ‘ural Amagasaki Junior High Schoo! (now, Hyogo Prefee- ‘tural Amagasaki High Schoo!) His most direct inspiration was a Western-style painting club hat had been started by newly appointed art teacher. Then, gradually, ae ‘Shiraga approached graduation, he hegan to dream of go- ing on to Tokyo Fine Ants School (now, Tokyo University ‘of the Arts), where the teacher was also employed. But due to-vehement opposition from his family, who expected him to cary on the Family busines, a8 well asthe fact that f- lowing the recent outbreak ofthe Pacific War, there was a severe shortage of food and other goods in Tokyo, he ap- plied instead to Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting (now, Kyoto City University of Ars), which he could com mute to from home. He entered the Japanese-style Painting. Department, but a the school only had two departments (che other was design), this was rally the only choice he ‘had to study painting, Shiraga later sad, “I dida't have the fest interest in Japanese painting”? ‘Shiraga’s actual star as am artist began after he ‘was demobilized, returned to art vehool, and subsequently ‘graduated in 1948. To study Western-style painting, his real imerest, he began attending the newly buile Osakanna idee Nani sting ‘Municipal Museum of Art, Ast Academy and also paid 4 visit 10 the Ashiya-based Tsuguro Tio, a Western-style inter who was a member ofan art association called the ‘Stinwisokubs Kyokai (Shinscsskaha Association, stil in existence, the group changed its name slightly to the Sbin- scisaku Kyokai shinscisaku Association in 1951). During this period, in che works that It encouraged Shiraga t9 submit for inlusion in the group's Kansai and main ex! bition in Tokyo, we see a poets, fantasti world that was inspired by the novels of the 19th-century composer and fanrasy painter E:T.A. Horfinann, the Grimm fry tle, and Japanese folktales. ‘But in 1952, Shirags's work began to undergo a dramatic change. Conerete forms disintegrated and by the following year, he had arrived a complete abstration by expressing what might be called waves of emotion through the use of a spatula and painting knife. The early 1950s saw the renurn of sovereignty to Japan, after a long occupa tion by Allied Forces, and signs of economic recovery due to the “special procurement hoom” that had occurred with the outbreak ofthe Korean War. Inthe art world tb, there was a surge of momentum among young artists to break ‘way from staid forms of expression and ereate paintings tnd seulpeures that were appropriate to the new era, The changes that Shiraga’s work underwent at this point might alto be seen aba sign of the times Te was ako around this time that Shiraga turned to a pair of books for direction. Published before the war by the art cfiie Usabuso Toyama, these were [Niju siti kaiga suikan (Survey of 20th Century Painting, Kinseido, 1930) and Junseui Aziga ron (Theory of Pure Painting, Kinseido, 1932). Along with ‘Toyamas view, espoused in Theory of Pure Painting, chat modern paint- lng must be based on the pure pictorial sensibility of “seeing” rather than serving as an explanatory visuale tion of history, Titerature or philosophy, what attracted Shiraga co the evtie was a section in Survey of 20 Century Painting which dealt with the two streams of pictorial ex- pression in the 20th century. Toyama divided 20th century painting in two general categories; “intellectual painting” and “emotional painting.” While the former included Cub ism, Pasisme, Suréalisme, and Neve Sachlichheit the la ter encompassed Fauvisme, Expressionism, Suprematism and Aestheticism, Trying desperately to move away from the poetic, fantastic works of hie past toward something ‘ofa more emotional nature, Shirags located himself in the second tradition and came to believe thatthe “objective of sy woek from then on wa to move tothe forefront ofthis emotional steam.” Shirag's search for new expressions in painting, which began in 1952, picked up speed due toa friendly walry with like-minded acquaintances, Ie was around chat time thet he formed a group called Zero Kai (Zero group) ‘with Saburo Murakami and Akira Kanayama, two young artists who also belonged tothe Shimizu Auociation, With a name that was apparently derived from the notion that “art should be created by embarking from point where theres isn't anything, the foundation for Zero group lay ina pledge by the ‘whose geometrical abstract painting seemed “cool” and ists that Kanayama, “negative,” and Shiraga, whose work was exactly the op- posite ~ Le, “warm’ and “positive” ~ to “recklessly rush” Jn each other's direetion. Works such as Saburo Murakami’s so-elled “throwing-ball paintings,” created by throwing a ballharhad been sathered with Indiaink against canvas, Akira Kanayama’s minimal paintings with a single black Tine arose them, and Arsuko Tanaka's paintings consisting only of lines of rumbers inspired Shiraga to take a more ‘extreme approach. Namely, by eliminating fundamental el- ements of painting such as composition and ealor, Shiragn set outro make “pictures chat resembled slugs” Firs, to dispense with the notion of color, he re~ stricted himselfto the use of crimeon lake, a hue which re- «alled blood. Then, in an attempt to remove the element of ‘composition, he replaced his painting knife with his fingers and created 2 workin which he caressed the canvas begin- ning a the very top, covered the entire acea with finger-like marks, and gently removed [his fingers] at the very bor tom. He developed this finger based technique further in ‘other series by “ordering square canvases, applying radial lines with [his] fingers that fanned out ftom the cener, and then making 2 spiral shape chat expanded toward the out side orin some cases, a triangle or square.”™ Tn time, Shiraga experimented with a whole ange of paintings using a variety of inger-genersted pat “Somehow or other Thad the feeling that doing & massive numberof paintings all ogether over a short time ‘would be very refteshing. And if] stood the canvases upand worked, the paint would invariably drip, so that even ‘ually made it necessary to lie them down, When I painted ‘them in that postion, my hand couldn't reach to the very center ofa big canvas, so the only thing I coil do was get inside the canvas” “Thus, inthe summer of 1954, Shiraga took his first sep inside the canvas with hie bre fect. [As is clear from this description, Shiaga’s hare- feet paintings evolved out of an attempt to eliminate color and composition from his work, and at the outset had nothing to do with action painting. The ist, small work the made with his fee is sill extant, and though his feet ‘were certainly used to cover the entire canvas in a uniform manner, it's impossible to detect any trae of the action, iow then did Shirage come to al the element of action? According to the artist himself although he embarked on the use of his feet a a meane of eliminating color and com- positon, when he fst set foot on oil paint, it was so sip- pety that he couldn't do much with it. Bur by adding the technique of clinging to rope that was dangling from the ceiling, Shirage Sgured out that he could side Feely over the eanvas, Ie was at this insane chat the action painting of Kano Shiraga was born, In 1955, the year that Shiraga came to action painting, big changes were afoot in the Zere greup. The group was invited 10 merge with the Gua Biju Kyakat (Gurai Art Association, hereafer, Gai). In 1954, at almost the same time that Shiga hhad begun to paint with his fect, an abstract-art group called Guai was formed by Jiro Yoshihara, a Western style puinter who was bated in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture. ‘With a name that was derived from the groups desice to “onretely advance proof for the freedom of our spirit," Shiraga and other group members of the same generation explored the potential for new artistic expression with a freewheeling approach that had been slien to traditional ‘pining and sculpture ofthe past based on their unequivo- cal leader's rigid exhortations to ‘never copy anyone” and “do something tha's never been done before, “The frst work that Shiraga showed as a mem- ber of Gutai was included in the “Experimental Outdooe Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the Midsurnmer Burning Sun," an event that war sponsored by the dshiye City Art Asociaton and held in July 1955 in Ashiya Park, along the banks ofthe Ashiya River, Though ie was nomi- nally an outdoor exhibition, there was more to the event than simply hanging paintings outside, In order to mect Yoshihara's demand that the group “do something that’s never been done before,” Shiraga devised a work called leave Come In, which consisted often roughly-hewa logs that were painted red and arranged in a conical shape, Ac cording to Shiraga, “More than a three-dimensional work, the chopped ends [ofthe logs] form a painting that can be viewed endlessly"! And asthe tele suggest, viewers could actually enter the cone and view a new kind of painting there, Cuca’ frst group show was held in October of the same year at Ohara Hall in the Aoyama district of Telyo. At this Ise Gutai Art Exhibition, Shiraga unveiled Chal- ining he created by diving, clad only in «pair of underwear, into a ton or so of mud that had been placed in the hall's garden, lenging Mud a Prompted by Yoshihara, Shiraga, who had tale ea bold step from action painting with his feet and the ‘two-dimensional plane to making use of his entire body in three dimensions, was awakened hy the vivid sensation of direct, violent contact between his body and material, and more than the question of form in painting, grew to- tally absorbed in conceptual, philosophical issves. Daring this period, Shiraga was contributing articles on his unique action-based theories to the Guta! magazine, but at about this point, his interest deepened from action in the body, and then on to the spiritual element inherent in the body orn other words, “shisisu"(nature):® And infact, this change might be seen asa proces of placing absolute value “bib and trust in one! “came to fel that doing anything with my bdy ‘was a very meaningful act, Rather than painting and es tablishing a pictore, and trying to make it remain, T got 1 the point where it didn't marter whether i remained oF not. More than that, by simply engaging in an action ~ although ie mighe sound strange to say you get more out of it— Tame around to the iden that this kind of thing was more important." “The ide that the artist's own “vbisbiten” was the most crucial element and that an action was litte more than a means of earching itis surprising similar tothe Ex- tentials view advocated by the French philosopher Jean- Paul Sartre that had such great influence on intellectuals (esa ite O Secon tango” ogee rng ‘tyes mene ma Pe Nona oe andy‘throughout the world in the 1950s, Sartre proposed that “existence precedes essence,” and that there was no such ‘thing as an estence that was predetermined by a god. Fur- ther, whether we like it or no, human beings actually exist ‘without an “essence, something which can only be created through an accumulation of actions. I's unclear whether Shiraga was aware of Sartre's Existentialism at the time, ‘but there were other Gutai members who made use of vio- Tent actions such as Saburo Murakami, who ran and broke through a series of 21 Keaft-paper screens, and Sho2o Shimato, who expressed himeelf by filling bottles with paint and throwing them at rocks. And returning to the Harold Rosenberg essay mentioned a the outset, the ete places a greater emphasis on the production process than the work itself, And considering that this was in part an attempt to discover a new image of ‘post-war man" in the form of the active painter it might he more accurate to see Shiraga’s“hisbiew," concept as something that took shape as part ofan anthropocentri zeitgeist (represented by Ex istenialis) which was common to many people, regusd- less of ethnicity or nationality, who experienced the mass killing and large-scale devastation of World War Il rather than being directly inBuenced by Sarte's jatentialism. ‘As Shiraga thought of his works, which dis played little more than a trace of his actions, as debris lefe over from a short-lived ‘shicitw,” almost none of the action paintings that date from his stint with Gua (he, 1955 to 1957) are extant, Painting on cheap, eggshell-col- ‘red Japanese paper without any regard for preservation, Shiraga would dispose of his works as soon as an exibition had finished. Also during this period, he began to place a higher value on pure action painting and dedicated himel€ ‘tm automatic expressions. But it wasnt long before he had had enough of playing the performer “From about 1956, I stopped thinking so much aout that. mean I decided it was okay if[a painting] had a sense of composition and then I aso started using color, and afte I started using a varity of colors, I just got sed ‘tthe idea that a work might have an artistic conception oF that people might see icin char waye™ “This decision marked the end of Shiragu's action paintings. Te fact chat paintings that had once only been rade with crimson lake now became multi-colored was re Inted tothe fact that Shiraga had begun to produce paint ings with prior, if vague, assumptions about imagery. These ambiguous images served as a key, urging Shiraga to es ‘ablich his own unique style and to stake everything on the new images that emerged from the struggle between the conscious and unconscious ~ or ashe described the process: “60 percent physical desce and 40 percent taking a look st the painting and making a decision." ‘Shiragels action painting was a product of the 1950s, both in terme of form and concept. But this alone wouldn't have been enough t0 guarantee a place for Shiraga’s works and name in the history of post-war att, and would only have established himas a symbole igure of the era. Why then, even bythe time his death, hadn't the ‘reputation of his action paintings diminished? This can be ‘explained by the consistently high quality ofthe works. ‘Shiragas action paintings were born out of strug- tle. As fo the actual opponents in the battle, they were his Dare fet and paint, lsh and material. But what maintains the quality in the work i the tension and strength that arises out ofthe struggle between the unconscious povter ‘of abody that chretens tojump off the canvas and the con- scious power that creates structure to bring itback inside. this antagonistic relationship between was destroyed, n0 matter how violent the action ot how numerous the colors the work would be nothing more than a low quality paint- ing erupting with chaos. On the contrary, even when the Paintings are only a single color tke, say, blue, black, or ‘white, these works in which a furious battle rages between the conscious and unconscious, always make For compel ling viewing, ‘Yer, the fac that battle is going on berween two ‘opposites suggests thatthe situation within the self is nel- ther conscious nor unconscious; in other words, “another self” is born out of & 1 sides, ‘What sit chat enables this extremely complicated mental ‘operation to occur? A hint it seems to me, can be found by looking atthe artist's personal history and the special features of Amagasaki where, with the exception fa short of thete two wars period when he was called to serve in the military, Shiraga spent all ofhis 83 years Developed in modern times as «suburban resi- dential ares between Osaka and Kobe, andi ancient timer as strategic may ime location linking Kyoto and Osaks, _Amagasal is a city with slong history Ta the Edo Period, the fefdom of Amagasaki fell under the control ofthe he-reditary dsimyo of Gomangoku, and elements that might at first sem antithetical, such asthe elegance of Kyoto and the common touch of Osaka, were fused into one, flower- | ing as a unique mercantile eutuce in the castle town. Lat inthe modern era, under the new Meiji government policy of creating “a wealthy nation backed by a strong military” Amagasaki was transformed into one ofthe Kansai region's ‘mort important zones for heavy and chemical indastry, but even as the name ofthe era changed from Met to Taisho and then Showa, a lingering shadow of the old mercantile culture remained, ‘The first on of a long-established kimono shop, ‘Shiaga was seeped in this culture from a young age. His Aenaled knowledge of Chinese classics and Japanese tradi- tional performing arts as evidence by the titles oF his works, and the violent, gruesome images in his paintings was ap- parently mooted in the experience of watching blood spilled and accidental deaths oceur in the “fight” festival that is held Perhaps then, the character of. Amagasali was responsible for the act's mental structure, ‘in which while focusing on two extremes, Shiga was able ‘o place himself in situations and places that were neither one nor the other, Commited to the ideas of Ussburo Toya- sma, the crite who divided 20th century painting into two opposing extremes, the “intelleemal and the “emotional,” and active as.a member in the highly competitive Zer group, Jn the egy every sum which was founded on the opposite extremes of “ool” and “hot, it woulda’ be an exaggeration to say that these ele- ments, which led the way to action painting evolved out of Shiragas singular sptial makeup, ‘Much more than a simple remnant of the 1950s, ‘Shieaga’s action punting is dhe season that even after over fifty years, he continues to gain new adherents and maintain 4. meaning presence. his is lrgely due ro the fact that intrinsic to Shinaga’s works is «universal theme common to all human beings Every one of us embraces contradictory concepts and values ~ good and Ba, rue and fb, fe and dest We are constantly choosing between them, agonigngin the struggle, ad continuing to exist wie moving Bey both ‘of ther. The action paintings of Kaavo Shag, in which che polar opposites of conscious and unconscious atl and are fused togeder with a mizscalous power, area manifestation ofthe nobility of human being life and pict, engendering ‘oth empathy and emotion, 6 In closing, I'd like to take a brief Took st this ex hibition, “The present exhibition is based on Shiraga’s own conception and selection of worke following a request i= sued four years before the aris's death in 2004 by the Amagasaki Culture Center as part of solo show that was scheduled to tour the country. Several retrospctives of Shi- raga's work were staged during his lifetime, inchading the “Kazuo Shira” exibition at the Hyogo Prefectural ‘Museum of Modern Art in 2001, but all of them vere structured chronologically according. to changes in hie manner of expression. For his part Shiraga attempted in- stead to divide his works into serie, The following is an overview of the structure of the exhibition, which Shiraga had given tentatively teed, “Series: The Paintings of Kazuo Shiraga |The Water Margin Series 2.The Battle Series 3.The Ancient Chinese History Series 4. The Esoteric Budhisn Series 5. The Natute Secies 6. The Woman Power Series 7.The Transparent Oil Painting Series Sadly, Shiraga died before the exhibition could be realized. But, while honoring his preferred structare and selection (in effect, ascollection of the works that Shiraga was most confident about) the executive com in charge of this event, in order to provide visitors with a ‘etter understanding of the artist's work, vised the original ‘format by adding group of works that represents che process that led up to Shirage's “action paintings" anda colletion of documents that sheds light on his production methods. Tnthisserse, the exhibition reflects Shira vigi- -ainonton to compiles comprehensive survey af the fits of overhals century of ston painting frm the standpoint ofthe series In other words, nat only dos the formal aspect ofthe event aid in the understanding of the work, bu ia the relationship between file and image, there is a sypcally Shiraganan notion of constantly attempting to comprehend something through ts polaropposites— dha is while dealing with the ostensible content ofthe work, Shrug seems £0 want us to recognize his own creation. (ant ty Chapter Sphnn)Pinon - nee nad Pi