FROM NIRVANA TO CATASTROPHE - MATSUZAWA YUTAKA AND HIS ‘COMMUNE IN IMAGINARY SPACE’

Yutaka Matsuzawa (1922–2006) was considered the father of Japanese conceptual art. In his pursuit of ways to express the invisible invisibly, Matsuzawa developed a unique understanding of conceptual art that both elevated and transcended the typical notions of conceptual art in the western, euro-centric art worlds. The exhibition focused on the period 1969–1973, the most active years of Matsuzawa’s activities, and reflected on the exhibition Nirvana (1970), which was a pioneering international exhibition on Conceptualism in Japan.

Published by Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2017, 384 pp. (colour & b/w ill.), 12 × 18.7 cm, English