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MOTONAGA SADAMASA

  • Sadamasa Motonaga, Japanese picture book artist and avant-garde artist. His wife is Etsuko Nakatsuji, a plastic artist. Taking the unknown nature as his creative source, he created experimental works expressing natural phenomena by using novel materials, such as hanging colored water in plastic bags and performances using smoke. Later, inspired by the tarashikomi technique of Japanese-style painting, she attracted attention with her fluid works in which paints were poured on canvas. In 1959, he exhibited his work at the Premio Lissone Exhibition (Italy), where he won a prize, and in 1961 had solo exhibitions at Tokyo Gallery and Jackson Mercer Gallery (New York). In 1965, he participated in the "New Japanese Paintings and Sculpture" exhibition at MoMA, New York, U.S.A. In 1966, he was awarded a prize for his work at the "Premio Lissone" exhibition in Italy. He received awards at the 6th, 7th, and 10th Contemporary Art Exhibitions of Japan, the 1983 Art and Culture Promotion Association Award, the Japan Art Grand Prize, and the Grand Prix at the Seoul International Print Exhibition; exhibited at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 1986 "Japan in the Avant-Garde"; presented "Gutai" at the MOMA and Guggenheim Museum In 2013, attracting a great deal of attention both in Japan and abroad, and in 2015, a painting measuring less than one meter sold for nearly 100 million yen at Sotheby's.

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    • SAKAKI BAKUZAN

      SAKAKI BAKUZAN, Japanese calligrapher, born in Kyoto. He became interested in calligraphy in elementary school and learned oil painting in junior high school. In his mid-twenties, he won the highest prize at the Japan Calligraphy Institute Exhibition for two consecutive years, reaching the top of the calligraphy hierarchy at a young age. Later, in pursuit of "my own unique calligraphy," he added pictures and poems to his works, creating "poetry, calligraphy, and painting all in one. He has also created many commercial logos, including the titles of TV dramas and sake bottle labels.

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