TSUYOSHI MAEKAWA

Maekawa has used burlap as the main material for his works throughout his career. Burlap has become almost so closely associated with the artist to the extent that it is no doubt what first comes to mind when we think of Tsuyoshi Maekawa. Before Maekawa’s arrival in the art scene, there were a few artists in art history who used burlap, such as Joan Miró and Alberto Burri, but Maekawa was the first who exhibited a lifelong persistence in using this material. Maekawa attached and sewed pieces of burlap to achieve a three-dimensional quality on the canvas, and he also added color by using oil paints on the surface. Maekawa had an unwavering persistence to his artistic process of using burlap, while also pursuing innovation and new shapes and effects. Alongside artists like Shuji Mukai and Takesada Matsutani, Maekawa is representative of Gutai’s second generation. Even after the Gutai movement dissolved, Maekawa continued his creative pursuits and participated in many international exhibitions.

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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

“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 Tsuyoshi Maekawa: An Artist Who Created a Unique Form of Expression in Fabric

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
13/35

Gutai Art and Originality by Artist: Tsuyoshi Maekawa

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
12/35

Japan's Unique Formative Art in the Work of Second Generation Gutai Artist: Tsuyoshi Maekawa

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
11/35

Art Historian Kunio Motoe’s Take On the “Gutai Art Association”

GUTAI STILL ALIVE 2015 vol.1
01/35

EXHIBITIONS

2021: The Pioneer of Postwar Japanese Art : Whitestone Gallery, Taipei
Solo Exhibition, Whitestone Gallery, Tokyo
2020: Solo Exhibition, Karuizawa New Art Museum, Nagano
2019: Tsuyoshi Maekawa 1980 – Present, New Art Lab, Tokyo
Yamamura Collection Exhibition, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo
Selected 54th Award of Person of Cultural Merit of Osaka Citizen
2018: Solo Exhibition, Whitestone Gallery, Tokyo
Solo Exhibition, Whitestone Gallery, USA
2017: Tsuyoshi Maekawa in the 1970s, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp
Beyond Matter, Gagosian, San Francisco
SALON 001: Tsuyoshi Maekawa, Saatchi Gallery, London
The Strength of Matter: Tsuyoshi Maekawa, Whitestone Gallery, Taipei
2016: Gutai: Selected Small Works, Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong
2015: Avant Garde Asia – Gutai and its Legacy, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery, Hong Kong
Tsuyoshi Maekawa: Energy Extortionist, Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong
2014: Maekawa – The Gutai Works, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Dominique Levy, New York
2013: 'Gutai: Splendid Playground' (New York, Guggenheim Museum)
'50 Years of Japanese Painting' (The Museum of Modern Art Wakayama)
'Tapies, the Eye of the Artist' (Venice, Fortuny Museum)
2012: 'Gutai: The Spirit of an Era' (The National Art Center Tokyo)
2011: 'Nul=0' (Holland, Stedelijk Museum)
2007: '30 Years Collecting' (National Museum of Art, Osaka)
2005: 'Hyogo International Painting Competition' (Hyogo Prefectural Museum)
2002: Hyogo Prefectural Museum Inaugural Exhibition
2001: 'Osaka Art Panorama' (Osaka ATC Gallery)
1999: Paris Gutai Exhibition (France, Jeu de Paume National Gallery)
1989: Special Exhibition - Contemporary Design (The Museum of Modern Art Wakayama)
Rare Yamamura Collection Exhibition (Hyogo Prefectural Museum)
1986: A B C Painting Exhibition [Best In Show Award]
Gutai - Action and Painting Exhibition (Spain, Yugoslavia)
1985: 'Contemporary Japan' Painting Exhibition (New Delhi, National Museum of Modern Art)
1982: Contemporary Japanese Painting Exhibition [Grand Prize]
Japan-France Contemporary Art Exhibition [Second Prize, '83 Third Prize]
Japanese International Art Exhibition [The National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto Prize]
Japanese Embassy Prize Art Exhibition [National Museum of Art Osaka Prize]
1970: 'Osaka National Exposition' (Exposition Green Building)
1968: 'Nighttime-Only Gutai Exhibition' (Miyazaki)
1967: Gutai Holland Sketch Exhibition (Rotterdam, Design House)
Gutai Austria Exhibition (Wulfengasse, Heide Hildebrand Gallery)
1966: Lausanne International Exhibition (Musée Cantonal Des Beaux-Arts)
Gutai Holland Exhibition (The Hague, Olets International Art Gallery)
Gutai 3-Artist Exhibition (Gutai Pinacoteca)
1965: Gutai Paris Exhibition (Paris, Galerie Stadler)
1963: Solo Exhibition (Gutai Pinacoteca)

COLLECTIONS

National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto / National Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka / Miyagi Prefectural Museum of Fine Art / Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art / Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art / Wakayama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art / Ashiya City Museum of Art & History / Takamatsu City Museum of Art / Osaka City Museum of Modern Art / Hikami Municipal Museum of Art, Hyogo / Contemporary Art Hasegawa Museum, Shizuoka / Hira Museum of Art, Shiga / Ube City / And U.S, France, Holland, Australia etc. /