Amidst the profound social change and political turmoil of post-war Japan, a bold generation of avant-garde artists emerged in the 1960s, redefining the boundaries of art through experimental photography, graphic design, underground theatre, performance art and radical Butoh dance—forever transforming the global art landscape.
A new aesthetic of photography was born: “Are, Bure, Boke” (rough, dark and out of focus), pioneered by Moriyama Daido and the Provoke magazine photographers. Araki beautified bondage and Hosoe Eikoh sublimated the male body. Ishiuchi Miyako captured her experience of American military bases. Kawada Kikuji’s era-defining photobook The Map captured the poignancy of Hiroshima’s trauma.
Master of underground theatre Terayama Shuji produced countless magical, surreal and vividly colourful films, plays and photobooks, Yokoo Tadanori and Awazu Kiyoshi revolutionised graphic design with their incandescent theatre posters, Tanaami Keiichi, Japan’s answer to Andy Warhol, developed his unique kaleidoscopic vision of Pop-Art, and Butoh founders Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo impacted modern dance forever with their dance of darkness and light.
“Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers” features the work of Araki Nobuyoshi, Moriyama Daido, Hosoe Eikoh, Ishiuchi Miyako, Tanaami Keiichi, Yokoo Tadanori, Mishima Yukio, Hijikata Tatsumi, Ohno Kazuo, Terayama Shuji, Tenjo Sajiki, Kawada Kikuji, Neo-Dada Organizers, Hi-Red Center, Awazu Kiyoshi, Hanaga Mitsutoshi, Enomoto Ryoichi, Nakahira Takuma, Tanabe Santaro, Sasame Hiroyuki, Mizohata Toshio, Morishita Takashi, Lena Fritsch, Alexandra Munroe, Lucy Fleming-Brown, Peter Tasker, and Master K.