Axel Vervoordt Gallery is proud to present a solo exhibition of the Japanese artist Tsuyoshi Maekawa (°Osaka Prefecture, 1936), focusing on his later works from the 1970s till today.  The exhibition shows a variety of works in different techniques and colours, showcasing the artist’s boundless investigations of the materiality and taking full advantage of the peculiarity of the material as it is.   

Maekawa was part of the ‘second generation’ of the avant-garde Gutai Association joining this group in 1962.  Like all Gutai-members, he was encouraged by their leader Shiro Yoshihara to create “something that has never been created before”. This urge to create out of total freedom, without any dogma or scholarly academism, remained the primal goal for Maekawa throughout his career. In 1972, with the sudden death of Shiro Yoshihara, the group dissolved and their exhibitions at the Gutai Pinacotheca stopped.  Maekawa continued to work as an illustrator and graphic designer, but his true passion persisted in making artworks.  Even today, at the age of 84, he returns to his studio every day with the same drive and eager to be creative.  

During his 10 Gutai years, Maekawa experimented with materials and techniques, by tearing, cutting and sewing his canvasses and by adding drippings of paint, resulting in a complex and agitated artwork. In his early works, during the chaotic time after the World War II, he used burlap sacks as his favourite material.  He appreciated this humble and ubiquitous material, made from hemp fibres, that was used as bags for rice and grains. As a result, the life of the burlap sacks had been elevated – from having a basic primal nature, they obtained a composed nobleness.

After the split of the group, Maekawa progressively resolved the raw, vulgar texture of the burlap sack and he started using cloths as his sole material.  His work became quieter and more structured. He used fine cloths on which, he added delicate patterns by the sewing machine.    ‘What and how much can you express without using paint?’, was his main goal at that time. The compositions “Untitled (151030)” and “Untitled (140925)” show refined and precise sewing techniques of pleats and nips exploring the spatial dimensions of the canvas.  In a way, these works resonate with Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale, although the artist himself — faithful to the Gutai philosophy — refuses to be compared to other artists.

In the ‘80s, his work became more silent and meditative. He continued exploring the possibilities of the canvas itself with his sewing machine.  He became so skilled that his stitches became more and more tiny and positioned in close rows, almost like pencil lines in relief. He used very few colours, mainly beige and white, topped with some brown or black to highlight the composition and creating shadows.  When these elements appear on the surface, they gently reveal the calm subtlety and tactility of the materiality.  Occasionally, he painted part of the canvas in  a vivid contrasting colour like the pink used in “1906105”.  

In the ‘90s, Maekawa used painting in combination with sewing. The three works 2003004 – 1907105 and 2003002 present careful designed patterns in vivid colours that are overlapped with sewed patters.  The lines created by the stitches form an additional layer, playfully interacting with the painted surface. 

In his most recent works, Maekawa returns to his first love: burlap, focusing again on the material itself that composes the artwork, not by the presentation on it.  He incorporates sewn, wrinkled, and twisted waveforms in his canvasses that he sprays afterwards with paint.  

For Maekawa, the world seems like incorporating infinite possibilities. The overwhelming energy of the artist and  his never-ending urge to give life to materials is remarkable throughout his career. “I have been creating works for over sixty years now. I think I have concentrated on exploring matter. In particular, I have been persistent about investigating cloth and experimenting with it.”

Tsuyoshi Maekawa’s works are held in prominent museum collections globally, including Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Tate Modern, London; Long Museum, Shanghai; and Museum MACAN, Jakarta among the others.