YASUO SUMI YASUO SUMI

YASUO SUMI

YASUO SUMI
YASUO SUMI

Yasuo Sumi started painting while working as a high school teacher alongside Shozo Shimamoto, one of the founding members of the Gutai Art Association. While utilizing the soroban (abacus), initially known as a tool for teaching mathematics, Sumi stumbled upon a delightful revelation: painting and rolling the soroban onto paper produced a strikingly beautiful pattern. After this discovery, the soroban became a key aspect of Sumi’s technique, in addition to using traditional Japanese umbrellas and even vibrators to create patterns. Sumi joined the Gutai group in 1955 and exhibited his works at each subsequent Gutai exhibition until the group’s dissolution. His numerous improvisational creations reflected his three principles: yakekuso (desperation), fumajime (irreverence), and charanporan (irresponsibility). Jiro Yoshihara, the leader of Gutai, praised this philosophy. Like his contemporary, Shozo Shimamoto, Sumi presented artworks in many exhibitions in Europe and the United States and gained popularity, particularly in Italy.

 

ABOUT GUTAI »

ARTWORKS

NEWS

50 Years Since the End | The Gutai Art Association as seen at the National Museum of Art, Osaka

January 4, 2023
ART NEWS

50 Years Since the End | The Gutai Art Association Revives at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka

December 27, 2022
ART NEWS

ARTICLES

“Into the Unknown World — GUTAI: Differentiation and Integration” at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art and the National Museum of Art

October 19, 2022
Osaka, Japan

Interview with Yasuo Sumi: An Artist Who Always Sought "Creation and Discovery"
GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
09/35
Yasuo Sumi's Power of Expression and Execution: Making Art through Flashes of Inspiration
GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
08/35
Art Historian Kunio Motoe’s Take On the “Gutai Art Association”
GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
01/35

MAJOR EXHIBITIONS, COLLECTIONS

COLLECTIONS

National Museum of Art, Osaka / Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art Ashiya City Museum of Art / Osaka Museum of Modern Art / Tanabe City Museum of Art Itami City Museum of Art / Urawa Art Museum / Gendaikko Museum / Museo De Arte Contemporaneo De Seishi Miyazaki Prefectural Museum of Art

IMAGES

Work SY-25, 1958, Oil and lacquer spray on canvas
Work SY-49, 1963, Ink and oil on canvas
Work SY-6, 1965-90, Oil on canvas
Work SY-11, 1982, Oil and lacquer spray on canvas
Work SY-15, 1991-95-97, Oil on board
Work SY-16, 1991, Ink and acrylic on canvas

BIOGRAPHY

1925
Born in Osaka, Japan
1954
Encountered with Jiro Yoshihara at the Ashiya City Art Exhibition. Awarded Sakura Prize at the 7th Ashiya City Art Exhibition
1955
Experimental Outdoor Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the Mid-Summer Sun exhibition
Joined Gutai Art Collective
1st formal Gutai Exhibition (Tokyo Ohara Hall) (participation in every successive Gutai exhibition)
1975
Art Unidentified / Artist Union (presently known as AU) founding member. Participation in every group exhibition
1983
Group Exhibition "Gutai/AU", Düsseldorf, Germany
1988
Group Exhibition "Japanese" at the American Artist Cultural Center, New York
1992
Solo exhibition at Lustre Hall, Hyogo Prefecture
1992-93
Gutai I, II, & III exhibitions at the Ashiya City Museum of Art and History
1993
Passage to the Orient exhibition, 45th Venice Biennial
2000
literary work Desperation, Rebellion and Irresponsibility published by Bungeisha Press
2004-05
Exhibition "Traces:Body and Idea in Contemporary Art" at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
2005-06
Presented works at an exhibition in Modena, Italy
2006
Presented works at an exhibition organized by the Morra Foundation in Naples, Italy Presented a performance work at the residential garden of Morra, a founder of the Morra Foundation
2008
"Yasuo Sumi Exhibition" at Gendaikko Museum, Miyazaki Prefecture Exhibition at MAGI '900 museum, Bologna, Italy with Shozo Shimamoto
2009
Solo Exhibition "SUM" at Spazio Arte dei Mori, Venice, Italy, held a solo exhibition there the following year too
2010
Exhibition "Gutai" at Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano
2013
Solo exhibition at Whitestone gallery, Tokyo
2015
Passed away

 

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