Chiyu Uemae - Monochromatic Abstract Painting

While GUTAI being highly acclaimed in recent years, Uemae is one of the oldest witnesses of the group and its period. In contrast to Shimamoto, the charm of Uemae ( 1920 – 2018 ) consists in the elaborated matières and its accumulation of introspective energies. Experiencing various jobs such as crane operator, apprentice to traditional dyeing factory in Kyoto, Uemae studies firstly Chinese “Nan-ga” as self-taught, then shifts to oil painting. In 1953, Uemae meets Yoshihara, since then, the artist takes part in every Gutai exhibition until its dissolution. His wide-ranging creation from two-dimensional works which are composed of pattern accumulation by painting knife or of sensitive stitch to sculptural works made of wood or saw dust, comes from his broad experience in his adolescence.Uemae artist  went his own way. “My life’s work has been dedicated to absorbing new artistic styles, and pursuing my own unique approach to painting,” he said of his own practice, adding that this “was entirely possible despite my being a member of the Gutai group.” It was a surprising sentiment from an artist who had relentlessly sought Yoshihara’s approval and stayed with the group until it disbanded in 1972. Doggedly focused on the flat picture plane (though he does occasionally make sculpture) and eschewing performance, Uemae was forced onto the “solitary path” 

Shozo Shimamoto - Gutai Group - Japanese Avant-Garde Art

"Shozo Shimamoto was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1928. Together with Jiro Yoshihara, he was co-founder of the Gutai group, and he is considered one of the most experimental artists in the period after World War II. Gutai, the first radical artistic movement in Japan, developed in the late fifties, more or less contemporary with the informal movement in European and American art. Its main aim was to give new life to the Japanese artistic tradition. A work of art, for them, was no longer a simple support, but became a physical transposition of the artist's actions, which is what (like in action painting) turns the work of art into an action. Shimamoto, a pivotal figure in the movement, felt the need for new signs of expression that he found both in action and matter. "(fondazionemorra.org)

More information about the artist

Carol Rama

"Olga Carolina Rama, called Carol Rama, was born in Turin in the 1918. He started painting again as a teenager without having any academic training, but stimulated by the attendance of important protagonists of the Turin, Italian and international cultural milieu, including Felice Casorati, Edoardo Sanguineti, Massimo Mila, Albino Galvano, Carlo Mollino, Paolo Fossati, Carlo Monzino , Luciano Berio, Eugenio Montale, Andy Warhol, Man Ray.
Following painful family incidents, including the mother's psychiatric treatment and the probable suicide of his father, his art becomes a way to exorcise suffering and inner fears.
It initially came to the visionary nature of surrealism, then to Dubuffet and art brut, and later to join the abstract research of the MAC-Movimento d'Arte Concreta in the early Fifties and the poetics of the object trouvé in the 1960s and 1970s, until cycles of more recent works (his last work dates back to 2007) develops a completely personal and autonomous path, adopting different materials, themes and styles capable of giving voice to his dream universe characterized by a provocative iconography, suspended between transgression, eccentricity, autobiography and explicit eroticism."(www.rossorubino.tv)

Herbert Gentry - Expressionist Paintings

"Artist Herbert Gentry (1919-2003) made vibrant expressionist paintings of figures and faces, mixing global influences and African American experience. Referring to his childhood during the Harlem Renaissance, Gentry asserted “Harlem prepared me for Paris.” After completing military service in World War II, Herb Gentry returned to Paris for art school - and found himself in the heart of the expatriate American community in Montparnasse. Gentry moved to Scandinavia in 1959, but always kept a studio in Paris. In 1969, he returned to New York and became a resident of the famous Chelsea Hotel. At home on both continents, Herbert Gentry resided, painted and exhibited on both sides of the Atlantic. His work is represented in important national and international museum collections."(herbertgentry.com)
   “I paint what I experience, who I am, in the Black world, especially in America, there’s a thing that you can’t forget where you came from, you paint from your experiences, who you are”
"Although Gentry may not be as well-known as some of his contemporaries, his influence on artists and musicians of his time spans continents. However, because he spent so much time traveling, he never established a firm enough reputation in any one place. He painted in a semi-figural abstract style, suggesting images of humans, masks, animals and objects caught in a web of circular brush strokes, encompassed by flat, bright color. He has suggested that his works are uncalculated- coming from his subconscious- painting what he feels as he feels it. Gentry’s striking images are the product of his exposure to exotic people and places throughout his lifetime.   "It’s the magic that does the painting, and the magic is within. I can’t see having substance without having magic in the painting. I use hands, fingers, I’ll use anything at that point, it depends. ... I believe sometimes you use the thing nearest if it’s possible. ... The main thing is to get that idea over quickly. Because that feeling, that thought is a very short thought, as an artist it doesn’t last a long time. If you can get it down right away, work with it technically later on. For example, you see a form...should I...shouldn’t I...PUT IT DOWN! Then technically, if it doesn’t fit or you didn’t do it right, you can work with it. But that feeling, that idea, that spiritual thing, you just put it down right then!" (-Herbert Gentry, Oral history interview with Herbert Gentry, 1991 May 23, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.)"(spaniermanmodern.com)