Akira Kurosaki - 迷彩譜1 (Camouflaged World 1)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Woodblock Print

A fabulous print by Akira Kurosaki: 迷彩譜1 (Camouflaged World 1). A large abstract organic form (brain!?) dominates the centre of the image, built from alternating bands of green, blue and yellow and surrounded by circles, triangles, flowing lines and fractured geometric shapes. Kurosaki sets these vivid forms against a beautiful grey-green field shimmering in mica-like pigment/metallic sheen, adding further depth to the layered, three-dimensional space. A deep black-and-red border contains the composition, creating the characteristic red-and-black world that runs through much of Kurosaki’s work. A major large-scale work from Kurosaki’s 1977 Camouflaged World series, it brings together bold colour, geometry and organic form.🟢🔺

• Year & Edition: 1977 · Ed. of 50 (29/50) (signed & titled in pencil to plate).
• Medium: Woodblock. 9 blocks, 13 colours - printed on Echizen Torinoko paper*.
• Dimensions: Sheet approx H: 89.25 cm × W: 62.00 cm (Image H: 80.00 cm × W: 55.00 cm).
• Condition: Spectacular piece, no visible marks or blemishes. General surface handling to margins. 
• Notes: An impression of Camouflaged World 1 is held by the Fukuoka Art Museum, while other works from the series are represented in major Japanese museum collections. *Artist watermark to margins. Raisonné No. 248, (W233). 黒崎彰の全仕事 (The Complete Works of Akira Kurosaki: Catalogue Raisonné 1965-2006).

About the Artist

Akira Kurosaki (1937-2019) was a pioneering mokuhanga artist who fused traditional Japanese woodblock techniques with bold abstraction and surreal landscapes, rendered in his signature deep reds, purples and blacks. A graduate of the Kyoto Institute of Technology and devoted to the sōsaku hanga ethos - overseeing every stage of production himself - he earned the Florence Biennale Gold Prize and Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure. From 1987 he taught and led the Printmaking Department at Kyoto Seika University, mentoring a generation of printmakers; his work is held by the British Museum, MoMA and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. [ ← View All Works by Akira Kurosaki]