Tsuruko Yamazaki

Yamazaki was born in 1925 in Ashiya, Hyōgo, Japan.[2][3] In 1946, she met the painter Jiro Yoshihara (who later founded the Gutai group) when he instructed an art workshop she attended in Ashiya.[2][1]

Yamazaki was an active member of the Gutai group from its founding in 1954 until its disbandment in 1972.[4] She participated in all of the Gutai group's exhibitions,[4] including its first, The Experimental Outdoor Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the Midsummer Sun (1955),[5] held in Ashiya Park; and later exhibitions at Martha Jackson Gallery, New York (1958); the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1965);[4] and the 45th and 53rd Venice Biennale (2009).[4] Her first solo exhibition was held at the Gutai Pinacotheca, the Gutai group's museum, in 1963.[4] Other solo exhibitions included shows at Ashiya City Museum of Art and History (2004); Galerie Almine Rech in Paris (2010); and at Take Ninagawa in Tokyo (2013 and 2015).[3]

Yamazaki was known for a colourful abstract style,[2] for her interest in non-traditional materials (including tin, mirrors, and vinyl)[6][7] and for her "investigations into chemical and physical transformation".[6] For the Gutai group's first show (1955), in Tokyo, Yamazaki arranged a series of 25 dyed tin cans upon the floor.[6][8] Her work Red (Shape of Mosquito Net) (1956/2014)[9] consists of a large floating cube of red vinyl stretched over a wooden frame and was first featured at the Outdoor Gutai Art Exhibition in 1956;[5] versions of this work were also featured in a number of exhibits afterwards, including at the Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art;[2] at the Guggenheim Museum in New York;[10][11] and at Art Basel in 2016.[9] In 1957, she began experimenting with two-dimensional tin pieces, stained with aniline dye.[7] Later works explored geometric patterns, pop art-inspired imagery, and the use of dye on various surfaces.[4]

Yamazaki was credited for being a "pivotal figure in the Japanese avant-garde movement."[7] She died on June 12, 2019, at the age of 94.[1]