Gutai

 

After our kindergarteners  became familiar with using primary colors to paint bright secondary hues, we decided to change things up a bit!  We looked at the 1950s post-war Japanese art movement Gutai, a radical group of  artists who challenged the process of art making.  We examined artists who made their work by dipping remote controlled cars in ink, smashing glass bottles of paint on canvases, using their feet, and even riding bicycles with paint over large canvases spread out on the ground!

 

 

 

Kazup Shiraga, Work II, 1958, oil on paper.  from "Gutai: Splendid Playground." 

 

 

SHOZO SHIMAMOTO making a painting by hurling glass bottles of paint against a canvas at the “2nd Gutai Art Exhibition,”

 

     Gutai artist using remote control cars.

 

Inspired by this movement, our artists went back to their table with  forks, popsicle sticks, feathers, bottle caps, sponges, Q tips replacing their old paintbrushes.  Artists also explored ways to make different kinds of marks (wiping, smearing, flicking, stamping, dragging, etc.) with the same tools and shared what they discovered.  Once our paintings were dry, we layered oil pastel on top, noticing the different ways we could use our drawing tool.  Some artist's put it in their non-dominant hand others dragged it across the page. See below for the student examples.


 

Student Work