Abstract & Graphic (抽象・グラフィック)

Abstract printmaking has an important place in the development of modern Japanese art. Early sōsaku-hanga artists such as Onchi Kōshirō helped move the woodblock beyond traditional representation, using colour, shape, texture and the physical character of the printed surface as subjects in their own right. In the post-war period, Japanese printmakers pushed these ideas further, responding to international modernism while drawing on calligraphy, design, traditional materials and the particular possibilities of print.

This collection brings together several distinct approaches to abstraction and graphic form. Haku Maki transformed kanji and calligraphic shapes through deeply embossed surfaces and rich, restrained colour. Kumi Sugai developed a bold visual language of signs, circles and geometric forms, while Ay-O used the rainbow spectrum to turn familiar images into vivid experiments in colour. Akira Kurosaki combined precise woodblock technique with saturated colour and tightly constructed compositions that move between symbolism, surrealism and abstraction.

Across woodblock, silkscreen, lithography and mixed techniques, the works range from pure abstraction to images in which recognisable subjects are reduced to pattern, geometry and graphic form. Carved grain, embossed relief, repeated symbols and flat planes of colour all become part of the image itself, reflecting a broader strand of Japanese printmaking in which craft, experimentation and modern visual language remain closely connected.