Untitled

This small, framed abstract painting contains a complex world of ink dots. Each of the seven rows comprises seven or eight dots—each distinctive in size, shape, and placement. Most roughly adhere to the resulting grid, however the eye is ineluctably drawn to those that break free from this orderly arrangement, especially three pairs that touch each other. The monochrome composition is calligraphic in feeling and draws on an East Asian aesthetic of spontaneous brushwork, but at the same time taps into the world of Abstract Expressionism that Yamaguchi experienced firsthand as a young artist traveling in Europe.

Yamaguchi Takeo, born in Korea, was a Japanese painter who studied Western painting at the Tokyo Art School. After graduating in 1927, he moved to Paris to continue his studies before returning to Tokyo. There, he became associated with the avant-garde art group Nika-kai. Takeo combined the two major postwar European painting trends: Art Informel, which had an improvisatory methodology and a highly gestural technique, and monochromatic works that focused on the flatness of the canvas. In addition to large works on canvas featuring bold colorful, geometric forms, he also produced a series of brushstrokes arranged in rows on paper that showcased his experimentation with traditional mediums, as here.