From works as early as the 1950s, this exhibition will showcase the various stages and events in Sumi’s career – from his participation in the Gutai Art Association to the discovery of a painting technique using an abacus and the subsequent developments that took his art activities around the world. It becomes evident that Sumi embodied a distinctly free-spirited outlook on life, a quality that resonates profoundly in his canvases.

Sumi is known for using unconventional tools such as the soraban (Japanese abacus) and a paper bangasa (traditional umbrella). Other times, he would stick paper on top of a mosquito net and paint with a vibrating mechanism. For Sumi, the messier the work is, the closer it is to the unconscious mind. Therefore, Sumi’s work is full of the tension of life in movement, resembling a chaotic universe or rustic landscape.

Yasuo Sumi has always explored the boundaries of art with an unrestrained creative attitude, constructing a unique visual language between chaos and order, intuition and reason. We invite you to enter his art world, to experience a visual feast full of tension and free spirit, and to discover the beauty of artistic harmony in chaos.