What is the Gutai Art Movement, to Inspire You
Avant-garde art movement. Japan in the 1950s, following World War II.
5 min readJan 31, 2023
Don't Copy. Do it New.
“Gutai art does not transform, it does not falsify matter, Gutai art gives matter life.”
What is the Gutai movement?
They wanted to create a new kind of art that explored the relationship between the human spirit and material, works that luxuriated in “the scream of matter.”
The Gutai Art Association (1954–72) originated in the cosmopolitan town of Ashiya, near Osaka, in western Japan.
The word Gutai means “concreteness” and captures the direct engagement with materials its members were experimenting with around the time of its founding.
Gutai artists were exceptional international networkers who used the media to spread their ideas across the globe.
The Gutai Art Movement was an avant-garde art movement that emerged in Japan, following World War II.
