Page 20 - Studio International - July/August 1967

A Japanese differs from that of their contemporaries in down on large strips of paper and pinned to
the West. Western and particularly American the wall at the back of the room with the
influences have been quite clearly absorbed,
experience although the spirit behind the work of the number of votes beside each name. this
younger generation is neither as extreme nor
as consistently unified. Boldness is tempered figure represents number 5 in Japanese. The
by a delicacy and even tentativeness which sum total of the separate horizontal and
suggests the stages of development rather than vertical strokes adds up to five, and the
those of conclusion. The prolonged and rather gradual addition of the strokes was used in
painful experiments of the older generation of counting up the votes throughout the various
artists like Yoshihara and Yamaguchi, their stages of the session. Since there were seven
early eclecticism which has been finally re- jurors and the maximum votes any one artist
solved in an extremely personal style and work could obtain was seven, his score in the seven
of considerable substance, has helped the stages looked something like this:
Jasia Reichardt artists who today are in their twenties and
thirties to avoid the traps of having to come to
terms with the entire history of Western art
There are 50,000 artists in Japan, of whom through their own work.
176 were represented in the 9th Tokyo The most important international exhibition After the first votes had been cast, it was
Biennale. Only about 20 per cent of all in Japan is the Tokyo Biennale. The 9th decided to eliminate artists with only one vote.
Japanese artists work in what could be Biennale, held in May 1967, included the work At this point the chairman invited comments
described as contemporary idiom, and since of artists from seventeen countries and a total from each member of tile jury. Most jurors
there is virtually no market for their work, of 434 works. It took place at the Tokyo were pleased that there were no distinctions
the situation is far more critical than in either Metropolitan Gallery which is a public gallery made between sculpture and painting. Michel
the United States or Western Europe. This without a permanent collection. The Biennale Ragon made the point that it was difficult to
does not mean that there is no market for is sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers, judge the Japanese entries, especially for the
paintings, but simply no committed interest who are also responsible for organizing and foreign jurors, since the Japanese artists were
in contemporary art, since countless repre- financing international concerts, music com- represented by single works, and if one were
sentations of Mount Fuji and Japanese ver- petitions, foreign and national exhibitions unfamiliar with an artist's output it might be
sions of Utrillo supply a very heavy demand. and numerous other cultural events. Whereas impossible to decide whether a particular
A few of the better known younger Japanese most foreign artists were represented by be- work was the result of a happy accident or a
artists, like Arakawa and Tadasky, live and tween two and four works, the Japanese definitive development. It was generally
work abroad, but the vitality of the art situa- showed one work each, their only advantage agreed that the foreign selections were not
tion in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka is astound- being the possibility of showing very large or particularly representative, especially the
ing, especially in view of what little has been environmental constructions. French selection, which with the ommission
seen of Japanese art outside Japan. The 9th Biennale was the first to invite an of Arman and Martial Raysse, and inclusion
To harbour and promote new Japanese art, international jury to select works for the of Carzou, Cottavos and Aizpiri, gave the
Tokyo has precisely two private commercial twelve prizes which were offered. Since noth- impression that French art stops with Hartung
galleries : Tokyo Gallery and Minami Gallery. ing is every written about the process by and Vasarely.
Since neither is big enough to hold large which a jury arrives at their decision, and At this juncture the jury were reminded that
exhibitions, these are normally organized in since the Tokyo Biennale was remarkable for the previous grand prix winners were not
the more important department stores, like an extremely efficient system, it may be eligible for prizes. The young Japanese critic
Matsuya in the Ginza district of Tokyo, worthwhile to describe it in some detail. Tono commented that for the first time in the
where they are mounted by the artists them- The jurors were: Atsuo Imaizumi (director history of the Tokyo Biennale as high as 25
selves and open to the public for as short a of Kyoto Museum of Modern Art) — chair- per cent of the Japanese entries were by
period as one week. One of the best examples man; Teiichi Hijikata (director of Kamakura artists in their thirties and therefore this was
of resourcefulness and initiative is the activi- Museum of Modern Art), two young Japanese the first Biennale which was representative of
ties of the Gutai Group which has converted art critics Yoshiaki Tono and Ichiro Haryu, current trends in Japan.
commercial premises in Osaka into a vast Michel Ragon from France, Maurice Tuch- After the first eliminations, thirty names
gallery where numerous exhibitions of foreign man (curator of modern art at Los Angeles remained pinned to the wall. This time the
and Japanese artists have been organized County Museum), and myself. The exhibition jury were asked to write down twelve names.
during the past few years. Gutai, literally, was already open for two weeks before the Again artists with only one vote were elimi-
means 'concrete', and the works of the group's jury session so that all the works could be nated and now only fifteen names were left
members are non-figurative, although this is seen under the best possible conditions. The on the wall. Before further voting the chair-
the only characteristic which they share. It actual jury session was held between 10.30 man asked for comments about the possible
might be more accurate to say that the Gutai and 4.45 with a longish break for lunch, and winners of the two grands prix—one for a
artists work within all idioms of abstraction it was attended by two interpreters, one for Japanese artist and one for a foreign artist.
from the informal to that based on geometric French, one for English, and eleven members By this time it was clear that the decision for
principles. What is remarkable is the extensive of staff of the Mainichi Newspapers who kept the foreign grand prix winner would have to
uses of plastic materials which explore the a record of the proceedings,, collected votes, be made between Vasarely and Stella. Ragon
qualities of the synthetic substances them- counted them, pinned up names of artists on a announced that he did not wish to continue
selves, which are neither disguised nor painted. wall and kept a score. The Tokyo Biennale the dispute between France and USA and
Yoshihara, the winner of the Japanese grand jury session was the most expedient process of would vote for the Hungarian. It was evident
prix at the Tokyo Biennale, is the founder of selection in my experience. As the first step that neither Stella nor Vasarely were exhibit-
the Gutai group, which for many years repre- the chairman asked the jurors to write down ing their most impressive work and Stella's
sented the most avant-garde trends in Japan. on a piece of paper twenty names of artists selection was particularly poor with the
It may be difficult to pinpoint the ways in whom they considered of interest. The names exception of one painting. A discussion en-
which the work of the young Japanese artists of all the artists on the seven lists were written sued as to whether the prize should be given
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