Ay-O - Rainbow

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Silkscreen Print

A fabulous print by Ay-O: Rainbow. Horizontal bands of radiant colour sweep across the surface - red through violet. The composition captures Ay-O’s fascination with the colour spectrum, distilling his rainbow motif into a direct study of light. Printed in 1980, this work marks an early, quintessential example of the rainbow design that would evolve into his Gradation Rainbow series later in the decade. 🌈✨

• Year & Edition: 1980 · Ed. 10/75 (signed, dated & editioned in pencil).
  
• Medium: Silkscreen.
  
• Dimensions: Paper H: 58.00 cm × W: 69.00 cm. Image H: 50.50 cm × W: 55.75 cm.
  
• Condition: Mint.
• Notes: A remarkable early example of Ay-O’s rainbow motif - predating his notable "Gradation Rainbow" series of works through the mid 1980's. A large & incredible piece in spectacular condition.

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]