Genpei Akasegawa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Genpei Akasegawa
赤瀬川 原平
Genpei Akasegawa (1961)
Born	Katsuhiko Akasegawa (1937-03-27)March 27, 1937 Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Died	October 26, 2014 (2014-10-27) (aged 77) Tokyo, Japan
Other names	Katsuhiko Otsuji
Occupation	Conceptual artist, photographer, essayist, short story writer

Genpei Akasegawa (born Katsuhiko Akasegawa) was a famous Japanese artist. He was born on March 27, 1937, in Yokohama, Japan, and passed away on October 26, 2014. He used different names for his work. For his art, he was known as Genpei Akasegawa. For his writing, he used the name Katsuhiko Otsuji.

Akasegawa was part of important art groups like Neo-Dada Organizers and Hi-Red Center. He continued to create many different kinds of art throughout his life. His works have been shown in big museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The famous artist Nam June Paik once called Akasegawa "one of those unexportable geniuses of Japan."

Biography

Early life and art beginnings

Akasegawa was born in 1937 in Yokohama. He moved around a lot as a child because of his father's job. He lived in places like Ashiya, Ōita, and Nagoya. In Nagoya, he went to high school with another artist, Shūsaku Arakawa.

In 1955, Akasegawa moved to Tokyo. He studied oil painting at Musashino Art University. He often felt frustrated with the art styles popular at the time. He wanted to make art that was more connected to real life.

Joining the Neo-Dada Organizers

In the late 1950s, Akasegawa started showing his art at the Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition. This exhibition was more open to new ideas. Artists there competed to make their paintings stand out in unusual ways. This helped Akasegawa think differently about art.

In 1960, he helped start the Neo-Dada Organizers group. Other artists like Ushio Shinohara and Shūsaku Arakawa were also part of it. This group created strange "events" and "happenings." These were like performances that mixed visual art with live actions. Art critics called their work "Anti-Art." This meant they wanted to question and change what people thought art should be.

The Neo-Dada Organizers believed in "creative destruction." They wanted to break old rules to make way for new art forms. For example, they held an Anpo Commemoration Event. This event showed how their art was connected to big social changes happening in Japan at the time.

One of Akasegawa's works from this period was Present Arrived Too Early. It was part of his "tire-works" series. Even with unusual materials, Akasegawa still followed some traditional ideas of how art is made.

Forming Hi-Red Center

In 1963, Akasegawa formed a new art group called Hi-Red Center. He started it with Jirō Takamatsu and Natsuyuki Nakanishi. The group's name came from parts of their last names: "high" (from Takamatsu), "red" (from Akasegawa), and "center" (from Nakanishi).

The artists in Hi-Red Center started as painters. But they soon began to use "direct action" in their art. This meant they created events and happenings to show the strange or funny parts of Japanese society.

For example, in Room in Alibi (1963), Akasegawa wrapped everyday items like a chair and a radio in brown paper. He wanted people to see these objects in a new way by hiding them.

Some of their other famous events included:

• Dropping Event (1964): They dropped various objects from a roof. Then they collected them, packed them in a suitcase, and sent the key to a random person from a phone book.
• Shelter Plan (1964): They invited people to get measured for a personal nuclear fallout shelter at a fancy hotel. Famous artists like Yoko Ono and Nam June Paik even participated.
• The Movement for the Promotion for a Clean and Organized Metropolitan Area (1964): They dressed in special suits and carefully cleaned small parts of public sidewalks. This was a funny way to comment on the efforts to clean up Tokyo for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

The group also held the Great Panorama Exhibition in 1964. For five days, the gallery was closed with an "X" made of wood nailed over the door. When it finally opened, the gallery was full of empty cans. Among them were Akasegawa's Canned Universe pieces. For these, he removed the labels from cans and put them inside the can. This made the can's "contents" seem like the entire universe. It was a clever and simple idea.

Hi-Red Center broke up about a year and a half after it started. Akasegawa later said that after the "Cleaning Event," they felt there was nothing left to do.

The "Model One Thousand-Yen Note Incident"

In 1963, Akasegawa sent out invitations for an art show. These invitations looked like 1,000-yen notes, but they were printed in one color and had event details on the back. He also used these copied notes as wrapping paper for a series of artworks called Packages.

This led to a big discussion about art and law. Akasegawa was questioned because his art looked like money. He argued that he was not "copying" money to trick anyone. Instead, he was "modeling" it, like making a model airplane. He saw the whole situation as a performance art piece, calling it the Model Thousand-Yen Note Incident.

During the legal process, which lasted several years, Akasegawa and his artist friends turned the courtroom into an art space. They used the discussions about his art to explore what art truly means. This event was even called the Exhibition Event at the Courtroom.

After this, Akasegawa created "0 yen notes." He would exchange these playful notes for 300 yen. This project, called Greater Japan Zero-Yen Note (1967), was his way of responding to the situation. It was a fun and legal way to make people think about money and value.

Discovering Thomassons

In 1970, Akasegawa started teaching at an art school. With his students, he began to explore what he called chōgeijutsu ("hyperart"). This led to the idea of "Thomassons."

Thomassons are things in cities that seem useless but are still there. For example, stairs that lead to a door that no longer exists. Akasegawa and his students found these funny and thought they were like accidental art. The name "Thomasson" came from a baseball player who was paid a lot but didn't hit the ball often.

Akasegawa invited people to send in their own Thomassons. He even promised a "zero-yen note" as a reward.

Later, in 1986, Akasegawa and other artists formed the Street Observation Society. They combined their interest in Thomassons with "modernology." This was a way of studying everyday life and culture in modern Japan.

Akasegawa also loved old cameras, especially Leicas. He joined a photographers' group called Raika Dōmei and held many exhibitions.

Writing and other creative work

As "Katsuhiko Otsuji," Akasegawa won the Akutagawa Prize in 1981 for his short story, "Chichi ga kieta" (Father Disappeared).

He also wrote many essays and manga comics. These were known for their humor and unique style. His 1998 book Rōjin Ryoku (Geriatric Power) was a bestseller in Japan. In this book, he playfully suggested that getting older and facing physical changes can actually be a sign of new strength.

Akasegawa also created manga, like The Sakura Illustrated (Sakura Gaho) in the 1970s.

Works

Publications

• Obuje o motta musansha (オブジェを持った無産者). Tokyo: Gendai Shisōsha, 1970.
• Tuihō sareta yajiuma (追放された野次馬). Tokyo: Gendai Hyōronsha, 1972.
• Sakura gahō gekidō no sen nihyaku gojū ichi (桜画報・激動の千二百五十日). Tokyo: Seirindō, 1974.
• Yume dorobō: Suimin hakubutsushi (夢泥棒：睡眠博物誌). Tokyo: Gakugei Shorin, 1975.
• Chōgeijutsu Tomason (超芸術トマソン). Tokyo: Byakuya Shobō, 1985. Revised: Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1987. ISBN: 4-480-02189-2. English translation: Hyperart: Thomasson. New York: Kaya Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-885030-46-7.
• Tōkyō mikisā keikaku (東京ミキサー計画). Tokyo: Parco, 1984. Reissue: Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1994. ISBN: 4-480-02935-4.
• Rōjinryoku (老人力). Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1998, ISBN: 978-4-480-81606-1. Reissue: Chikuma Shobō, 2001, ISBN: 978-4-480-03671-1.

See also

In Spanish: Genpei Akasegawa para niños