Ay-O - 哲学者 (Philosopher)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Silkscreen Print

Ay-O brings the “Owl of Athena” to life in spectral colour, layering concentric bands of rainbow hues to sculpt the bird’s piercing gaze and feathery texture. This playful yet majestic image marries mythic symbolism - wisdom, insight and the pursuit of truth - with Ay-O’s signature vibrancy. 🦉🌈

• Year & Edition: 1986 · Ed. of 200 (143/200) (editioned & signed in pencil).
• Medium: Silkscreen.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 56.00 cm × W: 38.00 cm.
• Condition: Lovely; colours bright and crisp, paper sharp & intact.
• Notes: Embossed “Gendai Hanga Center, Tokyo Japan” seal lower left. Listed as Raisonné No. 571 in Rainbow Rainbow: Ay-O’s Rainbow Prints Catalogue Raisonné 1982–2000 (Abe Publishing, 2004).

About the Artist

Ay-O (born 1931) is a seminal figure in postwar Japanese avant-garde art, celebrated for his immersive “Rainbow” series of vibrant paintings, silkscreens and installations. Early influences included the Demokrato Artist Association and the Society for Creative Art Education, which fostered his experimental spirit. In the 1960s he joined George Maciunas’s Fluxus movement, collaborating with Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik and Claes Oldenburg on boundary-pushing performances. Ay-O’s playful, multi-sensory use of gradated colour has earned him international acclaim, with major exhibitions at the National Museum of Asian Art (Washington, D.C.) and Kunsthal Aarhus, and works held in the British Museum, MoMA (New York) and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. [ ← View All Works by Ay-O]