Takesada Matsutani

Takesada Matsutani was born in Osaka in 1937. He studied painting, but as he was suffering from tuberculosis, he missed many classes and mostly studied on his own. During these years, his works were largely influenced by surrealist collage, without never losing the connection with the Japanese pictorial tradition that Matsutani always felt as part of his identity. In 1959, he met Sadamasa Motonaga, who was a member of the Gutai Art Association, a Japanese avant-garde movement strongly influenced by Western art. Motonaga put Matsutani in contact with the group, of which he also became a member from 1963 to its dissolution in 1972. In 1966, Matsutani received a grant from the French government that allowed him to move to Paris. From this moment on, he will live between France and Japan. He focused his work on painting and engraving, remaining loyal to his principles even after the end of Gutai. His most important works use vinyl glue as a medium, blowing into it to create shapes. Later, Matsutani will incorporate graphite to his work to enrich the visual qualities of the glue. Matsutani attended many important solo and group exhibitions, and his works are part of the collection of major institutions around the world, such as Centre Pompidou in Paris, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and The Albertina Museum in Vienna.