Work 1973

Kazuo Shiraga’s painting, “Work,” is a wild dance of color and motion, a testament to artmaking as a raw, physical process. The dominating red hues, layered and streaked, evoke a sense of fiery energy and intensity, a bold statement smeared across the canvas. Look at how the paint is applied! The texture is thick in parts, almost sculptural, with visible ridges and grooves that capture the force and speed of Shiraga’s gestures. You can see the traces of his hands, or maybe even his feet, in the swirling patterns, each mark a record of a fleeting moment. That vertical black slash slicing through the composition, it's like a crack in the surface, adding a sense of tension and drama. Shiraga, like Yves Klein, was interested in the performative aspect of painting, pushing the boundaries of what art could be. His work feels like an ongoing experiment, a vibrant exploration of form, color, and movement that invites us to embrace the beauty of imperfection and the endless possibilities of the creative process.