Gutai Postcards

This collection of 63 mixed media postcards was created by Gutai Bijutsu Kyōkai, or the Gutai Artist Association (Gutai), a Japanese artist group established in 1954 and known for their radical use of everyday materials and techniques. Translating to “concrete” in English, the name Gutai reflects the group’s belief in a balance between inanimate matter (such as paint, paper, or tin) and spirit (of the artist). Gutai used the postal system as an international exhibition space, asserting their artistic presence geographically and conceptually. The hand-painted and collaged postcards in this collection feature summer greetings, exhibition invitations, correspondence, and pieces created for the Gutai Card Box at the 11th Gutai Exhibition held in Osaka, Japan, in 1962. Many of them are interpretations of traditional Japanese New Year’s cards called nengajō. Others resemble large-scale works such as Shiraga Kazuo’s Golden Wings Brushing the Clouds Incarnated from Earthly Wide Star (Chikatsusei Maunkinshi). This set of cards was collected by the artist Yamazaki Tsuruko, a co-founder and one of the few female artists affiliated with the Gutai group.