In 1955 Genichiro Inokuma (1902–1993) traveled to the United States, and basing himself in New York, began working there. This year that marked a new departure for Inokuma as a painter is also the year that Shinro Ohtake (b. 1955) of our current special exhibition was born. To coincide with “Shinro Ohtake: Retina,” which among Ohtake’s extensive and diverse body of work focuses on his “Retina” series, distinguished by its translucent matière, “Genichiro Inokuma: Since 1955” surveys the changes in Inokuma’s expression that occurred after 1955, also paying particular attention to matière.

In painting the term matière refers to the texture of the painted surface or picture plane. On moving to the United States Inokuma shed his previous semi-figurative style, and the result was a great blossoming of abstract work. After his arrival in New York Inokuma initially undertook various experiments that ranged from mixing sand into oils, to slathering on thick layers of paint, and utilizing effects such as bleeding of the paint, or uneven coverage. Choosing themes including Eastern motifs such as haniwa clay figures, energy and states of being, he produced paintings marked by their materiality.
By the 1960s Inokuma’s interest in the bustle of New York and the order and systems of the metropolis was growing. While continuing to make use of the texture of oils, he reduced the uneven heights of paint on the canvas, instead beginning to produce paintings that crammed the entire picture plane with delicate line drawing. During this period abstract expressionists and pop art painters in the US were experimenting with creating vast canvases using acrylic paint, still a novel medium back then. From around 1964 Inokuma too began to use acrylics, which are fast-drying and permit a flatter finish, to expand his own expressive horizons. His paintings of the city became sharper creations combining straight lines and geometric shapes, culminating in 1970 in orderly compositions with blank space and areas of fine detail coexisting in a uniquely balanced manner.

The works produced by Inokuma over the 20 or so years he ended up staying in New York each have their own ingenious touches and effects in terms of matière, with differences between oils and acrylics also evident. The works here were presented mainly at New York’s Willard Gallery (open from 1936 to 1987), showcase for a number of top-tier artists including David Smith and Mark Tobey. This exhibition is an excellent opportunity to experience first-hand the bold, meticulously executed paintings of one of the earliest postwar Japanese artists to go to the United States and stride the international stage.