Modernism and the Avant-Garde in Japan and East Asia
A significant body of material from artists such as Ay-O, Yoko Ono, and Shigeko Kubota first entered the GRI collections through their participation in international post-war avant-garde movements, particularly Fluxus. Subsequent additions of material from Japan came with the papers of Allan Kaprow, who helped spread awareness of the Gutai movement, and David Tudor, who worked with the influential Sōgetsu Art Center and avant-garde composers such as Takemitsu Tōru. More concentrated collecting has led to the inclusion of earlier avant-garde figures, including the Surrealists Nishiwaki Junzaburō and Kitasono Katue, the Futurist Kinoshita Shōichirō, and photographers such as Fukuhara Shinzō, Hosoe Eikō, Kawada Kikuji, and Araki Nobuyoshi. These holdings are complemented by pieces by conceptualists such as Hikosaka Naoyoshi, and video artists such as Nakaya Fujiko and Shimano Yoshitaka.