kas work exhibited at 2nd Panel Exhibition, Osaka UII DAIMARU, Kyoto, June 138 The Assimilation of Japan and the West: shocnisia The Artistic View of Ryuji Tanaka Ryuii Tanaka was a noteworthy artist who was involved in two avant-garde ‘groups that were indispensable to postwar Japanese art. One of the groups was the Par-real Bijutsu Kyokai (Pan-real Art Association), and the other was the Guta/ Bijutsu Kyokai (Gutai Art Association). The former set out to revolutionize nihon-ga—Japanese-style painting, In the late 19th century, as Japan quickly moved forward with state-en- dorsed efforts to modernize the country based on a European model, nihon-ga signified traditional Japanese painting and was conceived as a counterpart to yéga,—Western-style painting—which had been imported asa new technique. In terms of specific characteristics, nihon-ga is marked by flat spatial ‘expressions lacking in physical depth, fixed motifs such as beautiful natu- ral elements, natural pigments made out of crushed ore, and other miner- als dissolved in animal glue that are applied to paper or silk. The word “tradition” is used to describe a style or approach that has been carried on from a previous generation and transmitted in its original form toa new generation. Thus, a world that champions tradition is neces- sarily conservative and feudal in the sense that doubt or negation among its heirs is not permitted. ‘After modernization had largely taken hold in Japan's economic and social systems, there was a heightened awareness during the 1910s and 1920s with regard to personal freedom, and the rise of a younger generation of nihon-ga painters who placed greater emphasis on subjective expression. But this spiritual modernization, as it was, was not welcomed by the state, which was striving to create a national framework akin to Western countries under 2 totalitarian regime with the Emperor as its apex. The war with China was heating up, and in the 1980s—an era in which soldiers dominated politics— revolutionary movements, not only in nihon-ga, but in all areas of art were completely shut down. This situation grew into World War Il and ultimately continued until the Allied forces defeated Japan in 1946, The formation of the Pan-real Art Association in 1948 was part of a sud- den eruption that occurred when the desire for subjective expression—which had been suppressed during the war in the conservative, feudalistic world of nihon-ga—underwent a complete turnaround in the wake of Japan’s military defeat, prompting the fal of totalitarianism and the rise of Western liberalism. The group's founding members were young people who had studied nihon-ga at the Kyoto Municipal School of Painting. (Kyoto had long been a base for the genre.) These artists included Ryuji Tanaka,’ who was 21 at the time. The group's members aimed to loosen the restrictions on motifs used innnibon-ga, and actively introduce Western avant-garde expressions to the genre, Many of Tanaka's works from the Pan-real era display the strong influence of Surrealist painting, and contain fantastical, and at times, mys- terious qualities. 5182 As the artists distanced themselves from traditional nihon-ga motifs and styles, and moved increasingly closer to yoga, the basis for the genre was eventually reduced to techniques and materials alone. In other words, though the works might have had the appearance of Western art, they remained nihon-ga in as much as they were made with natural mineral pigments, glue, paper, and silk. ‘As time went on, the question shifted from the material concern of whether or not a work was nihon-ga, to the mental one of whether or not the artist intended a work to be nihon-ga, The group continued approach- ing what might be called the end of the line, ie., the negation of traditional techniques and materials. However, Tanaka, seemingly aware of what lay ahead, quit Pan-real quite early on—in 1951—and decided to hold fast to the old ways. This indicates that Tanaka possessed a deep understanding of nifon-ga on a conceptual level ‘As nihon-ga had originally emerged as an opposing concept to Western- style painting, the only way of truly revolutionizing the form was to assimilate the two genres on the presumption that they formed a dichotomy. Further, Tanaka must have thought that by intentionally remaining a njhon-ga art- ist and grappling with this issue, he could confront the question of what a Japanese artist living in his own era could depict after the genre had begun to bloom during the state-implemented modernization and Westemization of the late 19th century, only to be later suppressed. Moreover, he viewed this as a mission that had been entrusted tothe younger generation by postwar society Tanaka—who had already absorbed the influence of Surrealism during his time in Pan-real—next set his sights on abstraction, which constituted the mainstream of new painting in the postwar era. Beginning in the early 19608, he evolved a unique style with a large, hard plane of color made of a thick, heap of natural mineral pigments in the center of his paintings. ‘As mentioned earlier, the main ingredient in natural mineral pigments is ore, and as these tiny particles shine brightly in the light, they create a hard, yet delicate texture that’s not possible with oil paints. Based on the combination of this texture and the lines that overflowed from the edges of the color plane into the surrounding picture, Tanaka's works from this, period can be seen as a kind of Art informel painting within the nihon-ga genre, After receiving the Nihon-ga Contest Prize in the Sth Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition in 1962, he was highly acclaimed in the contem- porary art world? However, merely seeing these works from a stylistic perspective as examples of Art Informe! would be an oversimplification. Though Tanaka ‘wrote very little about his work—based on his notes from the era—we can see that he did not set out to embrace the informe! style. Rather, it provided him with profound insight into how to create a new type of nihon-ga: First of all, nature and human beings are in sync with each other. ‘Nagashi is a natural power - yin and yang Form is human power Beauty exists in a confrontational struggle Opposing lines and shapes Shoichi HiraiIf we apply this to Tanaka's abstract works, form—representing human power—can be seen as the color plane in his paintings. And nagash§— representing natural power—can be seen as the organic lines that are ran- domly created when natural mineral pigments flow over the edges of the color plane into the picture. Having shifted from Surrealism to abstraction, Tanaka must have reas- sessed the material meaning of natural mineral pigments, which he had used as a medium to depict fantastical, mysterious images in the past and had only ever seen as iconic elements of nihon-ga. He also reinterpreted the pale colors and singular textures of these nat- ural materials in terms of a uniquely Japanese aesthetic sensibility, and as a symbol of a natural perspective. With this in mind, the color planes in Tanaka's abstract paintings are a symbol of Western culture, in which humans attempt to control nature, and nagashi—as a symbol of Japanese culture—in which nature is accepted just as itis. In effect, his style was intended to extract a new type of beauty born out of the confrontational struggle between the two cultures’ opposing views of nature, While ostensibly a nihon-ga painter, Tanaka pursued a unique form of the genre, which was neither solely Japanese nor solely Western. Having been recognized for his work, Tanaka shifted his focus to the Gutai Art Association, which was already internationally known by this time as one of the Kansai region's preeminent avant-garde groups. Formed in 1954 under the leadership of Jiro Yoshihara, who called for the group's members to do things that had never been done before, Gutai had consistently devised new forms of artistic expression. However, feel- ing that the static membership was limiting the group's activities, on the eve of Gutai’s tenth anniversary, Yoshihara invited new artists to join as a strategy for reactivating the group. Tanaka became involved on the invita- tion of Kazuo Shiraga.* Not only had the two embarked on a revolutionary path after studying traditional nihon-ga at the same art school (Shiraga ‘was slightly older), they seem to have previously acknowledged each other {or similar efforts to sublate or unify antithetical elements within painting S Following his stint with Gutai, Tanaka adopted another style of expres- sion. After thinly coating the entire picture plane with natural mineral ments, he added obscure forms that looked as of they had been sprayed on, before adding extremely minute scratches on top. A predominant character- istic in Tanaka's work in the early 1990s was a fresh and profound lyricism. This was the result of his exploration in the relationship between the margin and the forms of art, as well as the use of multiple fields of color, and the color field itself with the gesture of scratching, as his subject matter, Around this time he wrote the following short passage: With nifion-ga materials like natural mineral pigments and sumi ink, Lam constantly exploring the potential of the contemporary inthe traditional. ‘The Assimilation of Japan and the West: The Artistic View of Ryili Tanaka 5354 ‘Aunification with nature ~ that is my artistic principle. Placing myself at the crossroads between the interwoven kindness and harshness of nature, | express the things | see and hear there through “myself.” “The act (reality) of expressing lies in the extraction and, ‘manifestation ofthe truth or feeling contained within the subject. {As evident from this passage, the stylistic change in Tanaka's work signi- fied the development of a distinctive Japanese view of nature from mate- rial, which was intended to express opposing views to a subject between Japan and the West. ‘Committing himself to nature, as an entity, comprises a wide range of contradictions, dichotomies, and harmonies; Tanaka tuned into the sympa thetic energy therein using a unique Japanese sensibility, and gave shape to it with natural mineral pigments. Tanaka continually sought a dialectic, solution to these opposing concepts as a means of answering the ques- tion of what he should paint as a Japanese and nihon-ga artist during that period. This was the last and greatest frontier he reached in his work. ‘Shoichi Mia seuratr ofthe Natlonal Museum of Modem Artin Kyoto. 1 uipeneyneteeetresited bole ge memeesameistere | boreeatpen sees, Semarheniemicny « memmeucnnuctomerae Etec « “ant sigatcanse ho pyenion sethe lng “ne Bilary 2 Thel@lonngcramokeisypicalctnetypsot‘TePaming af Rase Shrug Rus shiaga, {ricer ania weaves ung pra ‘tkoton tales Hyege Peter Museum Ste wors Msi ean oe thom ove pa Int Infrae lure eh anu ‘ene ¢ mp be mance at ata eon welder santa ‘eda sangre nt ort Sb Inetonee ecrgun andere ses now tu espona CGE TST) apeg pm a ‘tks at mabe use physzaexpessnrs” when apa athe Was ued ‘inn seniacooreandteciee®Ciaiscnye —tapane nto wot paiting or he renin 6Son Mae, ‘iin ea are 2 Thora nase inte pazzazeh te pusesin 0s sabre Maczans Dreamers Iacatanatanacormon emia’ 5 {a tan Sabra ris ‘on aul min grat onto ‘it pblaning ou fanaa My Seton tote pigmenttelrethaseonaieet dies, (Slepblahe, 03, Shoicht HiraiPublished on the occasion of the exhibition Ryuji Tanaka ‘March 10, 2016 — April 30,2016 ‘Axel Vervoordt Gallery Viaeykensgang - Oude Koornmarkt 16 2000 Antwerp, Belgium wwrwaxelvervoordtgallery.com Publisher: Axel Vervoordt Gallery Co-published by: ‘AsaMer,an imprint of MER. Paper Kunsthalle Geldmunt 36 15-9000 Gent 2016 MER Paper Kunsthalle forthe eon wumerepertunsinalirs ‘Art 2016 Ryuji Tanaks and The Este of Ryu Tanaka Phatagrapy © 208 the photographers Historcl images ite othe Guts At Associaton [© Osaka ty Museum o Meer at 2016 sal Veron Galny vvanleroortgallerscon ‘SON argu oe 1275 en7e826 verytort ha ban made to ace copyaght Rader Hnawevec you et you hve inaveraty ‘ean oveoaed, please conc the pulse Editor Boris Vervoordt Managing editor: Anne-Sophie Dusselier ‘Texts: Alexandre Carel, Shoichi Hiral, Koichi Kawasaki, ‘Axel Vervoordt ‘Translation from Japanese: Christopher Stephens Proofreading: Michael James Gardner Graphic design: Luc Derycke, Stijn Verdonck, Esther Le Roy, Jeroen Wille, Studio Luc Derycke, Ghent Photography: Nobutada Omote Printed by Cassochrome, Waregem Photo courtesy: All historical pictures were scanned from the private archive of the family of Ryuji Tanaka, Excopt p.38 © Sumi-e Society of America, 1.62 © Shoichi Hirai Images p. 65 have been photocopied from the following book: Japanese Postwar Innovative Art Movement: The Genesis of Pan-real Exhibition catalog, ‘tani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City ‘July 1998, p.27 and p.31 57 family portrait © Zoemin pp. 184-139 pictures in situ taken at Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp © Jan Liégeois. This publication was made possible thanks to the support of ARTCOURT Gallery, Osaka: Mitsue Yagi, Noriko Takemori, Yuri Fujimoto Special thanks to the Tanaka family ‘Shoko Tanaka, MakI Inoue, Toki Fujimoto Special thanks to the Public Japanese Collections: Prefectural Museum of Art ‘The Miyagi Museum of Art Ashiya City Museum of Art & History Osaka City Museum of Modern Art KONAN Gakuen Himeji City Museum of Art