picture-5 1960

Here we see Kazuo Shiraga, maybe sometime in the 1950s, splattering and smearing paint, using his whole body, his hands and feet, to engage with the canvas. You can see the physicality of the medium. Imagine him sinking his feet into the paint, using it to drag and push and pull the pigment around the canvas. What was he thinking? What did it feel like? I imagine the painting itself became a site of inquiry, with Shiraga not entirely knowing what the end result would be. There's something so playful here, the way he fully commits himself, not knowing how it will turn out. His work seems to be in conversation with Jackson Pollock and other action painters. Artists build upon each other's creativity, constantly exchanging ideas across time. Painting embodies expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple readings.