Page 34 - Studio International - November 1965

2
1 On his return to Japan, Taro started painting again composition (which is entitled Anti-Universe) measur­
Merry Pole 1962
Aluminium more vigorously than ever, in a style involving more ing 8 ft. high by 5 ft. wide.
ft. high subtle dissonances than before and a more subdued In 1964 he was asked to design the official com­
Erected in square facing
lkebukoro Station. Tokyo palette. The swirling, jostling compartments of bold, memorative medal for the 18th Olympiad about to be
bright, flat paint which had characterized his work held in Tokyo, and produced within a 1 J in. circum­
2
Ryoran 1963 began to lose their hard edges, to become attenuated, ference a compact, vivid, elegant relief pattern of
77 X 6 in.
to blend reluctantly-angry black whiplash lines still running, jumping, diving figures. And in December the
3 swirl around them-with delicate, mysterious shapes 26 ft. high Victory Pole he had created in honour of
Official commemorative medal
of the Tokyo Ol 1964 hovering in space, cloudlike entities contrived from the recently completed games was erected in the same
1 circumference thinly applied. broad brushstrokes of subtly blending great square of lkebukoro which had been adorned
4 grey, blue and green hues. The atmosphere of violence with his Merry Pole just one year previously.
The artist by h,s persists, but it has become somehow more sinister It might be appropriate to illustrate Taro's restless,
'burning hands' at the Tokyo
Gallery 1965 because the confrontation. the collision of elements is inventive imagination by mentioning. finally. a few of
5 not so direct and the image is more hermetic. his enchanting fantasies.
Ambivalence 1964 Taro's painting has also become increasingly monu­ In 1955, one of his most delightful artistic experiments
57x52in.
mental in size: a 'triptych' which he had just completed was his 'picture in the sky' entitled A Lady and a Bird.
when I visited his Tokyo studio this June consisted of With the co-operation of the newspaper Yomiuri
three canvases tracing a continuous theme when Shimbun. Taro went for a night flight by helicopter
1 placed side by side. each of the three sections of this above the roofs of Tokyo. With a torch held in his hand.

and two battery-operated arc lamps attached to the
machine's fuselage, Taro proceeded to draw his
picture by guiding the pilot through the necessary
aerial manoeuvres. This night-sky drawing was recorded
as it evolved, by r1 cameraman on the roof of the
Yomiuri building. Taro's only comment when he saw the
resulting photograph was: 'Damn, I forgot to sign it'.
In 1964, he produced a series of ·seats not designed to
be sat on', inverted ceramic 'urns' glazed in bright
colours, their gently curved tops carrying reliefs repre­
senting 'faces' with holes bored through to represent
eyes or mouth.
This year he was commissioned by a Zen Buddhist
monastery, Kyukokuji in Nagoya province, to design a
bell for their temple. The 5 ft. high bronze bell is now
cast, and was on show during August at the Tokyo
Gallery. It will be installed at the monastery this winter,
with appropriate ceremony. Wishing to honour this
196