Untitled 1991

Here, you can see an untitled painting by Shozo Shimamoto made with paint on canvas. But consider this: he didn't use a brush. Shimamoto was part of the Gutai group in postwar Japan, who challenged the prevailing view of what art could be. Gutai artists took art off the pedestal and put it into the street, or, in this case, the studio floor. The canvas would have been laid flat and then attacked, splattered, and manipulated using the artist's whole body. The fluidity of the paint as it drips and pools indicates that the artist likely employed unconventional tools, like bottles or even his own hands, to direct the flow and create dynamic compositions. This approach demystifies the artistic process, emphasizing the artist's physical engagement and blurring boundaries between high art and everyday actions, so take a closer look and think about the labor and performance that went into its creation.