芥川紗織　　　烈しいもの。　　燃えるもの。　　強烈なもの。Saori Akutagawa Defiant, Passionate, Intense

NUKAGA GALLERY is pleased to announce Saori Akutagawa: Defiant, Passionate, Intense, which will be on view from Mon., May 20 through Wed., July 3.

This exhibition features the works of Akutagawa, an avant-garde artist who emerged in the early 1950s. Throughout her all-too-brief 15-year career, she tirelessly pursued unique and authentic creative expression until her untimely death at age 41 in 1966. The show includes a selection ranging from her major works to drawings and more.

What really matters is going beyond technique to unleash something deeper and more meaningful. After all, my goal is to get my unique essence onto the canvas. There’s absolutely no need to strive for perfection. What I’m looking for is something defiant. Passionate. Intense.

(April 1954, diary of Saori Akutagawa)

This year marks the centenary of Saori Akutagawa’s birth, and there is a growing momentum toward critical reappraisal of her oeuvre.

Museums across Japan are taking this opportunity to showcase her works from their collections, and museums overseas have also begun to acquire her works in recognition of her important role in postwar modern art.

Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1924, Saori Akutagawa enrolled in 1947 in the vocal music department of the Tokyo Music School (a precursor of today’s Tokyo University of the Arts), aspiring to be a musician. However, after she married her classmate Yasushi Akutagawa (who later became a composer), his assertions that it was difficult to have two musicians in one household led her to give up her musical career.

However, her insatiable desire for self-expression remained undimmed, and she resumed painting, which she had practiced during her girls’ high school days.

Sometimes, I find myself engulfed in thoughts about what art really is and the reasons why I paint. But I think it’s OK to have these feelings. I’m an extremely happy person, nurturing this flame within my heart. It seems like I need to keep something blazing continuously, lest my own flame go cold.

(November 1953, diary of Saori Akutagawa)

In 1955, at the recommendation of Taro Okamoto, Saori Akutagawa showed her work in Room 9 of the Nika Association exhibition. There she won a special award, and was catapulted into the limelight as a leading emerging artist of her time.

Her art initially focused on the theme of women, but she subsequently turned to folk tales and mythology, producing dyeing works brimming with primal imagery. This shift in focus culminated in her production of the monumental From Kojiki (1957, 176 x 1346 cm, collection of the Setagaya Art Museum).

However, tensions in her marriage to Yasushi Akutagawa escalated, leading to their divorce in 1957. She then moved to the US, spending a year studying graphic design in Los Angeles before relocating to New York to attend the Art Students League of New York. There she began pursuing abstract painting.

After her return to Japan in 1962, she began exhibiting her abstract works. The following year she married the architect Yukio Madokoro, who had accompanied her to the US.

In this season of brilliant new greenery, when it’s neither too cold nor too hot, I’m making rapid progress with my painting studies. This is my joy, my ideal life, the life I have dreamed of and sought for so many years. At last, I’m able to draw pencil lines freely and fluidly.

(May 15, 1965, diary of Saori Akutagawa)

On January 31, 1966, Saori Akutagawa died suddenly at the age of 41 due to pregnancy-related toxemia.

This exhibition presents a varied lineup of her works, from early oil paintings and dyeing works to abstract paintings and drawings, tracing the entire arc of her artistic journey.

On this occasion, we invite you to explore the powerful narrative of this artist and the intensity of her art, which was inseparable from her defiant passion for living.

*Quotes are excerpts from the diary of Saori Akutagawa, published in Geijutsu seikatsu vol. 26 no. 9, September 1973.