For her first solo exhibition in 1964 at the Gutai Pinacotheca, exhibition space and communal centre of the Gutai artists’ group in Osaka, Yuko Nasaka created a number of works that she presented as large-scale wall installations. Using a potter’s wheel, she applied acrylic resin varnish to a wooden base, forming circles starting from the centre and creating a fascinating materiality. The shape of the circle became a lifelong motif in her artistic work.
Acquisition: Reinhard Ernst Collection, SBI Art Auction, Tokyo, 2012
Yuko Nasaka was one of the best-known artists of the second generation of the Japanese Gutai group. She developed her own fascinating visual language. This piece Work is a very good example of the work which made her famous.
For her first solo exhibition in 1964 at the Gutai Pinacotheca, exhibition space and communal centre of the Gutai artists’ group in Osaka since 1962, Yuko Nasaka created a number of works that she presented as large-scale wall installations. Similar to the work in the Reinhard Ernst Collection, simply called Work in Gutai tradition, the others were composed of six square panels showing a circular shape. Nasaka’s family manufactured measuring instruments for ships which may explain why she was so influenced by the circular form and would return to it as a motif in her work for the rest of her life. Like many Gutai artists, the physical act of creation is important to Yuko Nasaka, as you can tell from the surface structure of her paintings. Using a potter’s wheel, she applied acrylic resin varnish to a wooden base, forming circles starting from the centre and creating a fascinating materiality.
Nasaka is representative of the second Gutai generation, which increasingly turned to emerging industrial and experimental technologies. Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Merce Cunningham were among the most prominent visitors to her first solo exhibition, which received international attention. After a creative hiatus of 20 years, Yuko Nasaka has been exhibiting newer works since the 2010s, most recently in Tokyo and Amsterdam.
