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Yūichi Inoue, TORI, 1976

The Japanese “Pollock”
Yūichi Inoue’s experimental “action calligraphy” marked a radical departure in the 1950s from the refined and technically regulated traditions of Japanese calligraphy. He transformed the act of writing into a physical performance reminiscent of the Abstract Expressionism of artists such as Jackson Pollock. Yūichi often worked on large sheets of paper laid flat on the floor, moving his entire body weight across the surface and giving his works an almost sculptural force.

The ink people society
Like Shiryū Morita, who is also represented in this section, he co-founded the influential artist group Bokujinkai, or “Ink People Society,” in 1957. The group sought to establish calligraphy as a modern art form within a global context. His works were shown in major international exhibitions such as documenta II (1959) in Kassel and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The group maintained an active exchange with European gestural painters of Art Informel, including Pierre Soulages, as well as with American Abstract Expressionist painters such as Franz Kline.

Calligraphy and art during the Cold War
Avant-garde Japanese calligraphers closely studied new abstract art in order to draw theoretical and visual parallels with abstract painting worldwide, while at the same time influencing contemporary painting in the West. Significantly, the first issue of the avant-garde magazine Bokubi, published by the Bokujinkai group, featured an image of Kline’s work on its cover, a gesture that would have been unthinkable for traditional calligraphers. This close and productive exchange dissolved in the nationalist climate of the Cold War, when Abstract Expressionism was promoted, for political reasons, as a purely American movement that spread globally without foreign influence.

Transience
Kline himself stated that his painting was not “calligraphy.” In contrast, Yūichi’s work is inseparably linked to writing. He became known for his monumental single-character calligraphies. Tori (Bird) from 1976 is among his most important works. On the reverse side, the artist engraved a haiku by Bashō in Japanese: “Why do I feel so lonely and old this autumn, as if I were watching a bird fly through the clouds and disappear into them?” Tori marks a turning point. Perhaps Yūichi sensed that his time was limited. In 1976, having worked his entire life as an elementary school teacher, he reached retirement age and was able to devote himself fully to his art until his death in 1985.

Longing for his deceased mother
The elemental, raw, and spiritual nature of Yūichi’s experimental calligraphy is also evident in his “Mother” works from the early 1960s. At that time, he created numerous works with titles such as “Dream,” “Mother,” and “Piety of the Child.” They were inspired by his mother, who had been ill for many years. Yūichi wrote the character for “Dream” and asked the elderly, bedridden woman, who could not read characters, to trace it. After her death, he had her calligraphy applied to the quilt that had covered her bed, expressing the child’s longing for his deceased mother.