Ay-O - 角力 (Sumo)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Silkscreen Print

Two rikishi lock in a powerful clinch, their massive forms sculpted by Ay-O’s signature concentric rainbow bands that cascade across the dohyo - an electrifying homage to Utagawa Kunisada’s classic ukiyo-e triptych. 🤼🌈

• Year & Edition: 1984 · Ed. of 120 (42/120) (editioned, signed & dated in pencil).
• Medium: Silkscreen.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 55.75 cm × W: 90.00 cm; Image H: 40.00 cm × W: 82.50 cm.
• Condition: Fabulous; unblemished with vivid inks; paper clean & crisp.
• Notes: Ay-O signs in print both 香蝶楼国貞画 “Kôchôrô Kunisada ga” & 虹 靉嘔 (Rainbow Ay-O) to the image. Listed as Raisonné No. 527 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]