Ay-O

Recto: in graphite l.l.: 244/300; Signed and dated lower right in graphite: Ay-O '78. Printed text on opposite page: Ay-O Silkscreen “Kubo-san no Isu (Mr. Kubo’s Chair)”/Ay-O had his work on display at the Japan Pavilion of the Venice Biennale from the summer through the fall of 1966./ When I was selected as the Japanese commissioner, I chose to bring Onosato, Ay-O, Masuo Ikeda, and/ Morio Shinoda, split the Japan pavilion by four and gave Ay-O 1/4 of the space to/ display his work in whatever way he chose. Ay-O brought a complex canvas he put together in New York and a table setting/ full of cups, vases, plates, colored in a rainbow palette. He then painted a table/ that was already at the Pavilion white and the chair rainbow, completing his famous “Rainbow Environment.”/After the Biennale, the colorful table set was returned to Japan; however, the table and chair was left at the location./At Ay-O’s solo exhibition at the modern art gallery, Minamigarou in Tokyo, he wanted to re-create the “Rainbow Environment”/ but he was having a hard time finding a wooden chair strong enough in Tokyo./ At my house, I happened to have a sturdy wooden chair discarded by the American army./ When I showed it to Ay-O, he liked it immensely so he took it home in a taxi,/ painted it rainbow and put it in his exhibition. The chair had the same structure/ as shown in the print and was so sturdy that it would be completely fine even if it were hit by a small hammer. I own about/ 20 more of the same chair. The writing underneath the chair is Ay-O’s handwriting./This old American army chair was transformed into a magical chair and/ brought back to life by Ay-O.