Ryuji Tanaka

About

A recognized member of two avant-garde groups that are synonymous with post-war Japanese art: the Pan-real Art Association and Gutai Art Association, Tanaka’s legacy lies in his desire to evolve a unique artistic style that is at once experimental, and yet deeply rooted in the traditional Japanese-style painting - nihon-ga.

Spanning work made between the 1960s and 1990s, this concise survey traces the evolution of Tanaka’s style from his dark and intense early paintings, which demonstrate abstract experiments with nihon-ga materials, to the refinement of his later works that display a fresh and profound lyricism through the use of color.

Like many artists of the time, Tanaka studied nihon-ga painting at the Kyoto Municipal School of Painting where he became deeply committed to traditional materials: mineral pigments, sumi (Chinese ink) made from soot mixed with glue, washi (Japanese paper) and silk. Upon graduating in 1948, Tanaka together with a number of friends who also majored in nihon-ga, founded the avant-garde group Pan-real. The group was established to challenge and revolutionize the conservative nihon-ga, searching for freer structures and new forms of expression. While Tanaka’s involvement with Pan-real was short-lived, it reveals the ways in which the artist drew from and challenged the conventions of his training to develop a new method of painting: 

‘With nihon-ga materials like natural mineral pigments and sumi ink, I am constantly exploring the potential of the contemporary in the traditional.’

In the 1960s, Tanaka entered a highly productive period of his art, submitting artwork to numerous exhibitions that focused primarily on nihon-ga painting. In early works, such as Sei (6) (1962) and Sei (II) (1962-66), he evolved a unique style that consisted of large heaps of natural pigments placed in the centre of dark canvases. At variance with standard nihon-ga practices, Tanaka expanded the natural pigments by adding pebbles, powder and adhesive, and used a feather to blur the hard edges of the color plane, increasing the intensity and spatial depth of his paintings. Tanaka continued to pursue the style he developed during this period for the rest of his life. 
 

The year 1963 marked a turning point in Tanaka’s career. His friendship with renowned Gutai artist Kazuo Shiraga grew closer and upon invitation, Tanaka began participating in Gutai meetings eventually leading to official membership in 1965. Tanaka easily related to the ideologies of Gutai art: authenticity, individualism, and freedom of expression. Following his chapter with Gutai, the artist’s work from the 1970s and 1990s shifted from a dark, earthy and intense palette to cool, airy and brighter tones. As in Sitting on (Black 100) (1976), natural mineral pigments thinly coat the entire picture plane, augmented by organic forms articulated with spray-like gestures. In these later works, multiple fields of color are introduced, and often, minute scratches agitate the surface. Throughout his career, Tanaka continually sought to address the challenges he felt faced a Japanese and nihon-ga painter during this period, and these later works imbue a poetic sense of personal and creative resolve.