Sadamasa Motonaga Biography
MOTONAGA SADAMASA (1922-2011) Self-taught artist born in Mie, Japan, in 1922, Motonaga approached Gutai after meeting Yoshihara Jiro. Like all the members of the group, he seeks new expressions, original shapes, bright colors, free experimentation. On the occasion of a traveling exhibition dedicated to the Gutai group in the United States, he moved to New York for a year, radically changing his style. He begins to paint in a traditional way, however using acrylic colors and the airbrush. His artistic practice is partly inspired by the Japanese technique called tarashikomi: the artist applies several layers of liquid paint which blend on the canvas in an irregular manner. Having returned to Japan, he became interested in forms, which for him must come before colours, and dedicated himself to printing on silk panels and creating illustrated books, becoming one of the most popular contemporary Japanese artists. He died in 2011. His works were exhibited at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art in 2003, at the Mie Prefectural Art Museum in 2009, and at the Venice Biennale in 1993 and 2009.
