Chiyu Uemae was born in Kyoto prefecture, Japan in 1920. Chiyu Uemae’s career began with his involvement in the Gutai Group, which was founded by his hard-won mentor Jiro Yoshihara (the founder of the avant-garde Gutai group). In 1953, Uemae meets Yoshihara, since then, the artist takes part in every Gutai exhibition until its dissolution. Uemae, unlike many of his Gutai peers, is not known for using action as the basis of his mixed-media works.

Prior to joining the Gutai, Uemae had studied Nanga and western movements, but believes his most formative experience was an apprenticeship in Kyozome or the Kyoto style of dyeing. Because of this training, as well as a childhood immersed in non-figurative design, the practice of sewing became paramount to Uemae’s mature style. His mixed-media paintings sometimes feature textile elements, but are characteristically identified by his careful compositions comprised of fine dots or patterns. Chiyu Uemae’s wide-ranging creations from two-dimensional works which are composed of pattern accumulation by painting knives or of sensitive stitches to sculptural works made of cloth or wood or sawdust. He remains active in his 80s and 90s, still producing etchings and silkscreens.

Uemae participated in several historical Gutai exhibitions including the International Art of a New Era: Gutai and Informel exhibition; Gutai Art Exhibition in New York, Martha Jackson Gallery (1958); The Continuité et Avant-garde au Japon, International Centre of Aesthetic Research, Turin, Italy (1961); Groupe Gutai, Galerie Stadler, Paris (1965); NUL 1966 Art Exhibition, Netherlands (1966); Gutai Art Exhibition at Expo70, Osaka (1970). And recently his works were included the exhibitions; GUTAI: The Spirit of an Era, the National Art Center, Tokyo (2012); Destroying the Picture – Painting the Void 1949-1962, Los Angeles MOCA(2012); GUTAI: Splendid Playground, the Guggenheim Museum, New York(2013); Parallel Views: Italian and Japanese Art from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, The Warehouse, Dallas(2014).

About Gutai Art

The Gutai Art Association is an art group formed in 1954 by a group of young artists living in the Kansai region led by Yoshihara Jiro. The name “Guai” means “Concrete proves that our spirit is free”. In 1955, Yoshihara began to publish Japanese and English bilingual “Gutai” magazine. In 1956, Yoshihara published the Gutai Art Manifesto, which defined the Gutai School and expounded the brand-new connection between mind, body and matter in art. “Spirit” is considered to be unique to each person and an abstract entity, so founder Yoshihara asked the group’s members to make art that was different from the past, and that these expressions had to be abstract. He also organizes exhibitions, presenting their work in parks, on stage and in the air, hoping to inspire them to generate new ideas within existing artistic frameworks.

Gutai was widely recognized in the Western art world in the late 1950s. More recently, the National Art Center in Tokyo (2012) and the Guggenheim Museum in New York (2013) have showcased their challenging zeitgeist and creative energy for the Gutai Art and its artists.