PROVENANCE:
Important private collection, Europe
Christie's London, ASOBI: Japanese and Korean Modern & Contemporary Art, 2015, lot 21
Acquired sale by the present owner from the above

This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Shozo Shimamoto Association and signed by the artist, Archive ID 343 and dated 07.11.05.

GUTAI

Shozo Shimamoto had won himself international recognition with his "bottle throwing art" and "cannon painting." "Bottle-throwing art" refers to the artwork of which the artist created by throwing pigment-filled glass bottles to the canvas. When glass bottles were smashed to the surface, the pigment were splashed, leaving traces of power with various colors. With the effect of gravity and acceleration, pictures of strong energy was created by the exploded bottles."Cannon painting" was the method utilizing the mechanical cannon Shimamoto created. Which he used to fire the color balls onto the canvas. Shimamoto had been creating powerful images unremittingly throughout his career. The power of the image was created partly by the strength of the artist’s autonomy, and partly by the strength given by the external condition. The external force of “bottle throwing” is gravity, and “cannon painting” is the mechanical force. The creation of artworks is dominated by artists, but Shimamoto added external factors such as "bottle throwing" and "cannon" which cannot be completely controlled. By ingenious thinking, some accidents and coincidences were created, making the abstract creation full of vitality.

Shimamoto was born in Osaka, he graduated from the Kansai University Faculty of Arts in Osaka. He is a founding member of "Gutai", the Japanese post-war avant-garde art group. The term "Gutai", also known as “Gutai Art Association” in full, was proposed by Shozo Shimamoto. "Gutai" insists that the creation of art requires interaction of the body and the surrounding environment. And Art must be an original idea which have never been executed before. Contrary to traditional paintings, "Gutai" artists have each resorted to strange tricks, abandon paintbrushes, and practice their actions to perform their manifesto.

Shimamoto's creative process was highly observant. After painting on the scene at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993, he was highly appraised and active in the international art circle. He was also invited by BBC, NHK and other TV media in succession. In order to create a special documentary film for public creation, several cranes were used, and they were hoisted to a height of several tens of meters. The paint bottles were thrown from high altitudes to create a picture with high tension and strong impact. "Crane Performance Napoli F" shaped like a flower. The dense dark pigments created a pleasant atmosphere like London's light rain. The dark green was balanced and the picture was balanced. At the same time bring out the bright yellow dramatic effect.

In the 1940s, Pollock spluttered a wave of Abstract Expressionism with splashes of paint. When he moved the canvas from the easel to the floor, and created paintings with drastic actions. The depiction disturbed the art circle. The way of creating this abstract painting is more important than the pattern presented. It records the trajectory of the artist's actions. From the paint spilled onto the canvas, the abstract shapes left on the canvas are all the actions of Paloch's body. Extend and leave a three-dimensional image like a dance performance in a plane painting. After the defeat of World War II in Japan and the post-war art circles of Japan, they opposed the geometric abstract art that prevailed before the war. Shimamoto also issued the "Gutai Journal" and critic on the restrictions of paint brushes, and also his idealism about beauty. In recent years, the art world has reaffirmed the importance of this post-war art movement. Influenced by the sought after of American West Coast collectors, “Gutai” has become a commonplace for outstanding art collections. The works of Shozo Shimamoto were collected by the Tate Museum in London, the Pompidou Center in France, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Italy. Shozo Shimamoto died of acute heart failure on January 25, 2013, at the age of 85.