Rappa-Shu (Trumpeter) III 1959

Tadashi Nakayama made "Rappa-Shu (Trumpeter) III" in 1959, and I imagine he made it with a sense of play and experimentation. The dominant colours are grey, red, and black. The image is constructed through a series of marks, gestures, and textures—circles, dots, and dashes. I imagine the artist working intuitively, building up layers of colour and form, allowing the image to emerge organically. It feels provisional. I wonder if Nakayama was thinking about music, sound, or performance, or maybe he was just riffing on the idea of a "trumpeter" in a more abstract way. The composition feels improvisational. It reminds me a little of Joan Miró, in the way that it embraces abstraction and figuration simultaneously. This piece exists in a state of flux, open to multiple interpretations. Artists are always in conversation with one another, inspiring each other's creativity. The process of making something like this is an exploration of the medium itself. It invites us to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty and allows for many readings.