Many people probably think of Taro Okamoto as being an artist who specialized in using primary colors.

It is quite true that he often used vivid, primary colors in his work. Upon resuming his artistic activities in Japan after the war, he set out to challenge the existing Japanese art world by deliberately using primary colors, in opposition to the prevailing tendency to create a subdued ‘gray world’ based on the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi.

However, the 1960s saw him undergo a complete reversal and start to use a dynamic ‘black.’ Abstract black motifs, resembling Sanskrit characters, dominated the canvas and conjured an image of an eerie, dark, magical world.

‘I choose a black path—one that does not lead to my ruin but rather forces me to face death.’

For Taro, black was a ‘path,’ a symbol of a way of life that transcends color.

In this exhibition, we invite you to experience ‘Taro Okamoto’s black,’ as well as unveiling three works that are said to have been painted at a traditional Japanese restaurant in August 1961. We hope that you will enjoy the ‘dynamic black’ unique to Taro Okamoto.

Akiomi Hirano

Director,

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum