Ay-O Exhibition

Schedule: June. 12 [Wed.] - June. 22 [Sat.] 2024 11:00 - 19:00
※Gallery closed Sun., Mon., and national holidays.

*Click images to view in original size

Ay-O joined Demokrato Artist Association, founded by Q-Ei, with Masuo Ikeda, Yukihisa Isobe, and others in 1953.
He moved to the U.S. in 1958 interacting with George Maciunas, Yoko Ono, and others, and is active as a key member of the Fluxus movement from its early days.
The Fluxus movement was characterized by the participation of a multinational group of artists from various genres such as music, poetry, and dance, not just art, and Ay-O often holds performances called “Event” with Fluxus members.
In 1966, he exhibited at the Venice Biennale and won worldwide acclaim for his rainbow works and performances, in which all objects and images are deconstructed and reconstructed to rainbow colors, and became known as the “Rainbow Artist”.
Recently, a large-scale exhibition “Ay-O：Hong Hong Hong” was held at M+ (Hong Kong) in 2023.
In this exhibition, we will offer a limited edition of 11,111 prints of Ay-O's “I love you” silkscreen (printed by Tokuzo Okabe) for sale, produced as the first edition of Gendai Hanga Center established in 1974, and feature about 30 works including acrylic paintings, tapestries, three-dimensional works, and prints from his early to recent stages of his career.

■Ay-O
Born 1931 in Ibaraki Prefecture, Ay-O’s real name is Takao Iijima. He graduated from the Tokyo University of Education in 1954. Still in university in 1953, Ay-O participated in the Demokrato Artist Association established by fellow artist Ei-Q. He co-founded the art group Jitsuzaisha (“The Realists”) with Masuo Ikeda. Since his first visit to the US in 1958 he moved back and forth between America and Japan, and since 1962 actively took part in the avant-garde movement Fluxus. In 1971, he won the prize of the São Paulo Biennial, reflecting his international recognition.

When I entered the art world in 1974, Ay-O’s “I love you (Love Letters)” was the first edition of prints I publishEd.This was an outrageous undertaking at an edition of 11,111 copies, reflecting our ambition to become no. 1 in the world, at least in terms of silkscreen prints. The completed sheets were delivered by truck to Ay-O’s atelier, where the artist indulged in a 16-hour marathon signing session. We both were young! Ay-O’s works can be indentified in an instant by its rainbow colors, and this is also where they derive their intense originality from.

Movie production: Web Magazine CollaːJ SHIONO Tetsuya

Exhibition View

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