KUMI SUGAI (1919-1996)

Untitled, 1970. Colour screenprint. Signed, dated and numbered in pencil 83/190. Provenance: collection Lies & Cees Soons Born in Japan, Kumi Sugai (1919-1996) was primarily active in Paris. He was part of to the 'Nouvelle Ecole de Paris', a group of artists who each immigrated to Paris during the 20th century. Initially, Sugai created figurative art, yet this changed after seeing the works of Yoshihara Jirō (1905-1972), founder of the influential avant-garde movement Gutai. Sugai's oeuvre became more abstract, with increasing compositional simplicity. On the other hand, the titles he gave his paintings mostly referred to Japanese folklore until the 1960s. After living in Paris for ten years, his style underwent a decisive transformation. In his own words, strongly influenced by the hectic European city, the highways, and his Porsche. These elements transformed his artwork into sleek abstract figures with clear outlines. The present silkscreen embodies these things and is particularly akin to a road sign. Sugai's imagery is inspired by the clarity and universality of the message that a road sign proclaims. For him, they are a means of total and immediate communication. In the same way, the artist wants his art to be the most immediate possible. This is also evident in the significant and bright colour palette he applies, which often consists only of primary colours. In his eyes, red, black and white are colours that everyone knows and therefore he presents them as they really are, without any embellishments. For Sugai, a colour like blue or violet are changeable by light and by state of mind. Therefore, as visible on the screen print, he presents the blue changeable and in a different manner than pure red. 750 x 550 mm