With this recently acquired painting, the Walker adds to its collection a work representative of an important avant-garde art movement that is not very well known in the United States: the Gutai Art Association. Gutai, which means "embodiment," has similarities to the Action Painting of New York in the 1950s, but is uniquely influenced by its own time and place--postwar Japan. Established in the summer of 1954, the group formed around artist Jiro Yoshihara in Osaka and sought to create a new art "never known until now." Coming out of Japan's surrender in World War II, Gutai artists desired an art free of social criticism or political implication. Their first exhibition was in 1955 and featured a performance wherein Shiraga dove into a pile of mud and wrestled, kicked, and thrashed the clay mound to create an artwork sculpted by physical action. Unlike Allan Kaprow's Happenings in Europe and America--which weren't to emerge for another two years--Gutai artists intended their performances to result in the creation of sculptures and more prominently, paintings. Shozo Shimamoto threw bottles of paint onto paper spread on the floor. Saburo Murakami thrust his body through packing paper stretched over frames, and painted by throwing paint-covered balls at the canvas. In this untitled painting, Shiraga used his bare feet to apply the paint onto a piece of canvas on the floor. Grasping a hanging rope, he dipped and swung himself through the thick, wet oil paint. The finished painting depicts his random spins, swirls, and slips.

When Kazuo Shiraga started to work post-war, too in the 1950s, with the Gutai Group in Japan, in the same way then, the Viennese artists from the Aktionist Movement were considered as one of the first modern movements in Vienna, we can think that Gutai could be considered as the first modern movement in the history of twentieth century art in Japan. It was a group of people in the same way they were willing to challenge painting through action. As you can see in this painting by Kazuo Shiraga, it's something which is related to action. The painting is a trace, is a record, of something which was done live. In the same way that Otto Muehl is no more about representation, it's about a dynamic movement, just to inform you about the way the painting was made, Shiraga was painting with his feet, which can seem funny but it was a statement to show how the painting could ...testify of something which was linked to the body of the artist, which is important in this painting, in this movement in that we are dealing with a group of artists who are offering from a total other part of the world something which was challenging a modern model. It's important for us also to have this painting in the institution, because it's not Pollock but it's something which is challenging Pollock, which is offering an option to Pollock. It's linked to performing art among all the activities that the Gutai Group was doing: performing art, theater, music. People like composer Takehisa Kosugi ... all these people were working together. When we know the history of the Walker with performing art ... we know, for example, that Kosugi is now the official composer for Merce Cunningham. You have an history which is coming together through these different names. I think it's also an important piece for the Walker because the Walker will do, in a few months, a Gutai retrospective and, also, because if we start to look at Gutai, you cannot take away what was the historical situation, what was also literature in Japan, and I think when you look at this kind of painting you cannot not think about someone like Mishima. And when you look at Muehl, for me, it's the same thing, you can think about the same political protest.

Kazuo Shiraga is a member of the avant-garde movement in Japan known as the Gutai Art Association. Established in the summer of 1954, the group sought to create a new art "never known until now." Gutai, which means "embodiment," has similarities to the Action Painting of New York in the 1950s, but is uniquely influenced by its own time and place--postwar Japan. Coming out of that country's surrender in World War II, Gutai practitioners desired an art free of social criticism or political implication. Their artistic process combined action and performance with painting. Unlike Happenings in Europe and America, Gutai events were meant to result in the creation of sculptures and paintings. During the first Gutai exhibition in 1955, Shiraga dove into a pile of mud and wrestled, kicked, and thrashed the clay mound to create an artwork sculpted by physical action. In this painting, Shiraga used his body as a tool--this time a large paint brush. Swinging from a hanging rope, he used his bare feet to apply paint onto a canvas on the floor. The finished work depicts his random spins, swirls, and slips.

This tour presents an overview of four major art movements of the past 60 years. This activity could be used in the Walker Art Center galleries, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, or in the classroom with a selection of images from Art Collector. The artworks included in the activity are suggestions only and instructors may choose different artworks to accompany the discussion questions. This activity is from the Living in Our Time section of the Tour Guide Tool Kit.

Living in Our Time Activity Title: Challenge and Change in the Art World Theme: Challenge and Change in the Art World Age: Grades 9–Adult Overview: This tour presents an overview of four major art movements of the past 60 years. This activity could be used in the Walker Art Center galleries, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, or in the classroom with a selection of images from Art Collector. The artworks included in the activity are suggestions only and instructors may choose different artworks to accompany the discussion questions. Procedure: Setting the Scene Our society is in a state of constant flux, and artists and art movements react to and reflect that change. Art movements reflect society by responding to events, ideas, new technology, new materials, and trends. Today’s tour will examine four art movements of the last 60 years--Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, and Fluxus--and explore how they developed in response to what was happening in the world. Begin Looking Before discussing each movement in depth, take the group to several examples of works of art from that movement. Have the group to compare and contrast the works, and ask them questions to encourage close examination. Suggested questions for each movement are listed below. Abstract Expressionism Looking at work that could be called Abstract Expressionist, ask:  What was happening in society around the time that these works were made? How do you think artists might have dealt with the horrors of World War II in their artwork? What kind of emotions or feelings do you get from each of these works? Many artists at this time were interested in the element of chance and also personal expression.  Where can you find traces of those ideas in this work? During World War II, many European artists lived in New York City, where they met, befriended, and influenced a group of young American artists who would gain international fame as Abstract Expressionists. This would lead to a transfer of the center of the art world from Europe to New York. As a reaction to realism, and to World War II and its atrocities, these artists zeroed in on their innermost feelings, often using free association, automatic writing, dreams, and the element of chance. Their work was, for the most part, nonrepresentational and deeply personal, and provided a way for them to deal with their angst over the horror of war and a changing world. Show and discuss examples of Abstract Expressionism with the group. As Abstract Expressionism became a familiar form of artistic expression, two new art movements emerged as a reaction against it: Pop Art and minimalism. Pop Art Have participants examine some examples of Pop Art. Compare some of these artworks to some that we just looked at. How are they different? What kinds of things changed in American society from the 1940s to the 1960s? How does this work reflect that? Reacting to the emotionalism of Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art honored and glorified postwar consumerism. Instead of focusing on feelings, Pop Art highlighted the popular elements of our rapidly growing consumer culture. Pop Art was unemotional, straightforward, and easy to interpret. It was based on elements of advertising, television, food, fashion, celebrities, and world leaders. Let’s look at some Pop artists and compare their subject matter, style, and technique. Minimalism Now let’s explore the other art movement that developed as a reaction to Abstract Expressionism: Minimalism. What does this work share with the Pop Art that we viewed? How is it different? How do you think this work reflects the 1960s in the United States? Spearheaded by the writings of Donald Judd, Minimalism pared down art to its basic form. It was about shape, line, color, and material. Even more basic, Minimalism was about the value of an idea. With the postwar development of new industrial companies, the actual construction of the art pieces was frequently done by fabricators. They specialized in the artist’s chosen material and helped construct the work according to the artist’s plans and diagrams. Fluxus Another art movement with a different focus was Fluxus. How is this work unlike art you’re used to seeing? What kind of statement do you think these artists were trying to make? Reacting against art as an elitist commodity, and against museums as separating art from life, Fluxus tried to merge art and everyday life. Fluxus was strong on performances and written material, and on art that was inexpensive and not precious. Fluxus was art that made people think, smile, and connect. Conclusion Today we’ve discussed some artists and art movements that have made an important impact on modern art. On a future visit to the Walker Art Center, which of the movements would you like to spend more time exploring? Which work that you saw today would you tell a friend about? What work would you like to take back to school? All of these movements reflect their time, but they’re still relevant for many artists today. Which movement still seems the most relevant to you today? How do you think today’s artists might be influenced by movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art? Props: Tell the group that other artists and movements have challenged and changed the art world. Some examples: •    Marcel Duchamp attacked established values, raised questions about the definition of art, and greatly influenced generations of artists. •    Joseph Beuys was an artist, performance artist, teacher, and philosopher. •    Vienna Actionists, such as Otto Muehl and Hermann Nitsch, challenged the art establishment through shocking, sexually oriented performances. •    Gutai, a reactionary art movement in Japan, was strong on performance and included artists Kazuo Shiraga and Atsuko Tanaka. •    Arte Povera, an art movement in Italy, reacted against precious materials and included artists Piero Manzoni, Lucio Fontana, Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Luciano Fabro, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, and Giulio Paolini.

Participants look closely at artworks to complete a scavenger hunt that involves finding specific works based on clues. This activity could be used in the Walker Art Center galleries, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, or in the classroom with a selection of images from Art Collector. The artworks included in the activity are suggestions only and instructors may choose different artworks to accompany the discussion questions. This activity  is from the Living in Our Time section of the Tour Guide Tool Kit.

Living in Our Time Activity Title: Portrait Scavenger Hunt Theme: Who Am I? Age: Grades 3–6 Overview: Participants look closely at artworks to complete a scavenger hunt that involves finding specific works based on clues. This activity could be used in the Walker Art Center galleries, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, or in the classroom with a selection of images from Art Collector. The artworks included in the activity are suggestions only and instructors may choose different artworks to accompany the discussion questions. Procedure: Setting the Scene Today we are going on a scavenger hunt. I will give you clues about works of art, and you must work together to find the correct artwork. The main clue is that all of the artworks are portraits. What is a portrait? Some of these portraits may surprise you! To find the correct pieces, you must read the clues carefully and look closely. Begin Looking Divide the group into teams of three or four. With younger participants, send each group with a chaperone, or do the hunt together as a larger group. Distribute one copy of the scavenger hunt, along with a clipboard and a pencil, to each team. Tell them that they have 10 minutes to try to find the works of art. When they find one, they should write down the artist’s name and the title of the work. After 10 minutes, the group will come back together. Give the participants some rules for the hunt (for example, no running). Ask a teacher or chaperone to help keep an eye on the teams. Clue # 1: You might think I enlarged a photograph of myself to make this self-portrait. Clue #2: People often think this painting has olives in it. Stand back and I will emerge. Clue #3: An artist made my image from magazine photographs of me. Clue #4: This work, which includes a glass and a spoon, was created to honor the artist Marcel Duchamp and his wife, Teeny. Clue #5: This work is a portrait of my brother, Diego. Clue #6: You can see traces of the artist’s handprints and footprints in this thickly painted canvas. Answers: #1. Chuck Close Big Self-Portrait  1968 #2. Chuck Close Kiki  1993 #3. Andy Warhol 16 Jackies  1964 #4. Robert Rauschenberg Trophy II (for Teeny and Marcel Duchamp)  1960 #5. Alberto Giacometti Buste de Diego  circa 1954 #6. Kazuo Shiraga Untitled  1959 Conclusion Once the group has completed the hunt, go together to each work and ask: Why do you think this work of art could be called a portrait? Which work fits most into the traditional idea of a portrait (like a school portrait)? The least? Props: Cards with only one clue on each one Pencils Clipboards