YUICHI INOUE

Yuichi Inoue was a Japanese avant-garde calligrapher who embodied the self-discipline and experimental spirit of Japan's early post-war decades. Inoue received his training under the renowned calligrapher Sokyu Ueda and, for a period, experimented with total abandonment of sho (calligraphy) conventions. He emerged as one of the prominent figures among a generation of avant-garde Japanese artists who gained national and international recognition in the post-war era following the collapse of the conservative value system. Inoue and other like-minded artists, established the influential 'Bokujin-kai' in 1952.

The 'One character' calligraphy style is a characteristic feature of Inoue's art. This artistic expression serves to reaffirm calligraphy as an art form, countering Western culture’s exclusion of it from the realm of art since its introduction to Japan during the modern period. Inoue’s works exude a strong sense of vitality that captivates the viewer, presenting them in a simple yet bold manner. His use of ink, which allows for the expression of myriad achromatic tones, and his unconventional and original techniques are regarded as a 'new artistic expression', akin to the impact created by Abstract Expressionism and Art Informel during the same period.

As a result, Inoue developed an innovative form of sho that would contend with the widespread Euro-American Abstract Expressionism. His works were featured in several significant exhibitions, including the 1954 Japanese Calligraphy exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A year later, he participated in the Abstract Painting: Japan and the U.S. exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo as well as the L'encre de Chine dans la calligraphie et l'art japonais contemporains exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (which toured five cities). In addition, Inoue's works received acclaim and recognition at Documenta II in Kassel (Germany) and Carnegie International in New York. Finally, to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of Inoue's birth, the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum held a large-scale retrospective exhibition in 2016.

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YUICHI INOUE

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EXHIBITIONS

2016: Solo Exhibition "A Centennial Exhibition: INOUE Yuichi" in Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Art, Japan
2014: Solo Exhibition "Inoue Yuichi - Gutetsu" at Gallery 100, Taipei in Taiwan
2012: Solo Exhibition "INOUE YUICHI Hibizeppitsu" in Karuizawa New Art Museum
2010: Solo Exhibition "Yu-ichi Inoue –The calligraphy is for everyone–” at Seoul Art Center, Korea
“The Calligraphy of Yu-ichi Inoue” at The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma
“Yu-ichi Inoue –Lived and Wrote–” at Chigasaki City Museum of Art, Kanagawa
“Yu-ichi Inoue” at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
Hangzhou International Calligraphy Art Festival “Yuichi INOUE” at China
Academy of Art “Kanji Art –Inoue Yuichi–” at Ten Directions Art Center, China
“Yu-ichi Collectors Party” at Koyama Tomio Gallery, Tokyo
“Legacy of Yu-ichi” at Sumida Riverside Hall, Tokyo, organized by KAMIYA ART
2008: Solo Exhibition at Today Art Museum, Beijing in China
2005: Solo Exhibition "Yu-ichi and Uecker" at Langen Foundation in Germany
2000: Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI VIVANT" at Chigasaki city museum of Art, Chigasaki, kanagawa.
Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI-Ali" at Ciampino, Roma, Italy.
Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI exhibition" at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and RAKU Gallery of Kyoto university of Aoyama spiral Garden hall in Tokyo
1996: Group Exhibition "Japanese Art after 1945" at Guggenheim Museum in SoHo, New York and in San Francisco Museum of Art in San Francisco, California, USA.
Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI HIN -werke 1954 bis 1982" in Schirn Kunsthalle, Galerie im Karmeliterkloster, and Müseum für Kunsthandwerk in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Group Exhibition " ! " 93 works exhibition in JAPAN ART Gallery in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
1995: Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI 1916-1985" at Kunsthalle Basel in Basel, Switzerland.
“Our BIG Inoue Yu-ichi” at the National Museum of Modern Arts, Kyoto in Kyoto, Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art in Fukuoka, Niigata City museum in Niigata
1994: “Japanese Art after 1945 –Scream against the sky– ” at Yokohama Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Guggenheim Museum in SoHo, New York and San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California, U.S.A
1993: Solo Exhibition "Subarashii HIN (Marvellously Poor)" at the Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts in Tokyo
1990: Traveling Exhibition "YU-ICHI works 1955-85" at Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art in Fukuoka, Niigata City Art Museum in Niigata, the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art in Ehime, and Koriyama City Museum of Art in Fukushima
1989: Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI works 1955-85" at the National Museum of Modern Art, in Kyoto
1987: Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI's Hundred HANA (Flower)" at PARCO Gallery in Tokyo
1986: Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI Zeppitsu" (YU-ICHI, Psyché Calligraphy-PARTING THOUGHTS) at NEWZ in Roppongi, Tokyo and Nishinomiya Citizens' Gallery in Nishinomiya, Hyogo
Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI VIVANT" at the Seed Hall in Tokyo
1985: Group Exhibition "Adam in the Future" in SEIBU Hall in Seibu Department Store in Shibuya, Tokyo
1984: Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI KOTOBA-GAKI (WORDWORKS)" at UNAC SALON in Tokyo and Gallery Ban Garo in Osaka
1982: Solo Exhibition "1955-and now" in Wako Hall in Ginza, Tokyo
1980: Solo Exhibition at Asahi Gallery in Kyoto.
The National Museum of Art in Osaka added Gutetsu C to its collection.
1979: Group Exhibition "JAPAN TODAY" in Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
1977: Solo Exhibition in Commemoration of the publication of “Sho by Yu-ichi '49-'77” in Ichibankan Gallery, Tokyo
1976: Traveling Exhibition "Sho-Modern Japanische Schreibkunst" in Germany Retired after 41 years of teaching career
1973: Group Exhibition "DEVELOPMENT OF POSTWAR JAPANESE ART Abstract and Non-Figurative" in the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
1971: Solo Exhibition to commemorate the publication of "Hana-no-Sho-Cho" in Ichibankan Gallery in Tokyo
1969: Group Exhibition "CONTEMPORARY Art Dialogue between the East and the West" in the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, in Tokyo.
1967: Group Exhibition "The 1st Japan Gendai Sho" in Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Tokyo
1966: Group Exhibition “The First Japan Art Festival” in Union Carbide Company headquarters in New York, U.S.A.
1965: Solo Exhibition "YU-ICHI Calligraphien" in Wuppertal Kunst und Museumseverein, Wuppertal, Germay and in Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, Germany
1963: Group Exhibition "Calligraphien Japanischer Meister der Gegenwart" in Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and in Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden-Baden, Germany
1962: Solo Exhibition in Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, Germany Travelling Exhibition “Contemporary Sumie” in Canada and the U.S.A.
1961: Group Exhibition at the 6th Sao Paulo Art Biennale.
Group Exhibition “1961 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture”, Pittsburgh, U.S.A. His mother passed away.
1960: Group Exhibition “Pintura Japonesa Contemporanea” in Museu de Arte moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Group Exhibition “Japanische Kalligraphie” in Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg and Museu Folkwang, Essen, Germany
1959: Group Exhibition at the Second Documenta, Kunstnach 1945 in Museum Fridericianum, Kassel in Germany
1958: Group Exhibition at “50 years of Modern Art” in Palais International des Beaux-Art “Expo in Bruxelles”, in Belgium
1957: Group Exhibition at the 4th Sao Paulo Art Biennale
1955: Group Exhibition “Japan-America Abstract Art” in National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
Travelling Exhibition in Europe, “Contemporary Japanese Calligraphy”
1954: Group Exhibition “Japanese Calligraphy” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in U.S.A.
Group Exhibition at Bokujin kai Exhibition in Tokyo
1953: Group Exhibition at the Frist Genbi Exhibition
1947: Submitted a piece to a Second Japan Calligraphy Art Academy Exhibition

COLLECTIONS

The National Museum of Art, Osaka / The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto / Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie / Institute Matsumoto City Museum of Art The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama / Chiba City Museum of Art / Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art Heydt-Museums, Wuppertal / The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Okazaki city City Museum / TODAY ART MUSEUM / Himeji City Museum of Literature / Chigasaki city Museum / Niigata City Art Museum / Sanshang Art (hangzhou) / The Museum of contemporary art D'AC of Ciampino The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma / Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe Museum Rietberg in the city of Zurich / The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Kyu, 1977, Indian ink with adhesive on ppaper, 24.3 x 31.5 cm

Sunset glow, 1973, Ink with adhensive on Japanese paper mounted on the board, 115.0 x 115.0 cm

Leg, 1973, Ink with adhensive on Japanese paper mounted on the board, 88.0 x 126.5 cm

Yume(Dream), 1966, Ink with adhensive on Japanese paper mounted on the board, 214.0 × 125.0 cm

Hin(poorness), 1976, Ink with adhensive on Japanese paper, 126.0 × 169.0 cm

YUICHI INOUE

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