31stQ Ei Exhibition

Oct. 7 [Fri.] ― Oct. 22 [Sat.] 2022 11:00-19:00
Gallery closed Sun., Mon., and national holidays.

*Click images to view in original size

There have been many struggling oil painters since the Meiji Period, but I believe Q Ei was the most talented colorist (color painter) among them.
The 24 year old youth Sugita Hideo left Miyazaki for Tokyo in January of 1936 with his photo paper works (self dubbed photo-dessins) and had his talents recognized by Kubo Sadajiro, Hasegawa Saburo, and Toyama Usaburo. There, he debuted as Q Ei. He made many photo-dessins and collages and gained acclaim as an avant-garde artist. There was also a period in which he immersed himself in printmaking - over nearly 8 years, from 1951 to 1958, he created 350 copperplate prints. From 1956, he began making lithographs, of which he produced 158.
As an oil painter, he began painting abstractly, then decided to "restart from impressionism" and made figurative works, and in the post-war period took up abstraction again. Many dynamic transitions were contained in his short life. His final stop was a unique abstract painting style that filled the entire image with points. Until his life ended at 48, Q Ei pursued his own unique form of expression in oil painting, watercolor, spray, photo-dessin, photo collage, copperplate, lithograph, and more, never imitating himself. And in all of his expression was a brilliance (the most beautiful colors).
This exhibition will focus on Q Ei's copperplate prints and lithographs and include pointillist oil paintings from his final years.

■Q Ei（1911-1960）
Q Ei, whose early work was done under his real name of Hideo Sugita, was born in Miyazaki Prefecture in 1911. At age 15, his criticism started appearing in the art magazines "Atelier" and "Mizue". Q Ei’s first collection of photo-dessins, was published in 1936 as "The Reason for Sleep" (Nemuri No Riyu). In 1937, he set up the art organization "Free Art Association" (Jiyu Bijutsu Kyokai). As to criticize the established public group and Japan art world, he set up "Democratic Artists Association" in 1951.

Q Ei had great influence among the young Japanese artists at that time such as Ay-O, Masuo IKEDA, Yukihisa ISOBE, On KAWARA, and Eikoh HOSOE. He challenged various medium such as oil paintings, photo-dessins, prints, and created a unique world of art. He died in 1960 at the age of 48.

Exhibition View

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