虹の精靈：Ay-O 版畫特展 Rainbow: Ay-O Print Exhibition
Artist | Ay-O 靉嘔
Curator | Ashley Lin
Date｜Apr.02 – May.28.2022
Venue | Whitestone Gallery, Taipei
Image | Courtesy of Whitestone
「線，無止盡地向前延伸，但色彩本是無限，我透過色彩體驗宇宙的浩瀚，而我才真正獲得自由。」— Ay-O
飯島孝雄，1931年生於日本茨城縣，較為人所知的是他的藝術家名稱Ay-O（靉嘔），於東京教育大學畢業，22歲開始參與第五屆獨賣獨立展（The Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition）(1)。1953年與河原溫（On Kawara）一同加入由超現實主義藝術家瑛九（Ei-Q）(2)所帶領的創新藝術團體「民主美術協會」（Demokrato Artists Association），此協會裡沒有批判、沒有階級之分也沒有制式規定，非常重視藝術的自由精神，Ay-O得以全心投入藝術創作，那段期間對他而言如同烏托邦一般的美好。1958年離開日本前往紐約，在小野洋子 （Yoko Ono）的引薦下參與了國際前衛藝術團體「激浪派」（Fluxus）(3)。身為激浪派的活躍成員，他與不同領域的創作人，包含藝術家、音樂家、作曲家、舞蹈家等共同策劃探索感官的即興演出。1964年的作品〈第1號彩虹即興活動－彩虹音樂1〉，激浪派成員組成管絃樂團，以探討聽覺的方式於紐約卡內基音樂廳演出。隔年，為了刺激觀者的視覺與味覺，在新安迪・沃荷・加里克劇院（New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre）的地下俱樂部Cafe Au Go Go舉辦〈第6號彩虹即興活動－彩虹晚餐〉，提供六色的餐點給賓客。也因為這一系列的啓發，Ay-O開始創造 「觸覺環境」及「氛圍藝術」， 帶給觀者沈浸式體驗的裝置。
1966年Ay-O代表日本參與第33屆威尼斯雙年展，他為此展覽打造了一個彩虹世界，並命名為〈彩虹觸覺室〉，所有的牆面皆被彩虹波浪所覆蓋，並置放了65個小木盒，觀者能隨意地將手指伸入不同的盒中，令人訝異的是，每個小木盒各藏著不同的驚喜，開啟觀者不同的感觀體驗，例如：冰水、海綿、尖刺、或甚至有的會開始播放收音機的聲音，等待著被探索。Ay-O因而獲得全世界大量的媒體版面，並開始稱他為「彩虹藝術家」。為了紀念世界博覽會50週年，巴黎市於1987年與Ay-O共同在古雅的羅卡德羅花園策劃了〈第17號彩虹即興活動〉做為慶祝活動之一，將一條長達300公尺、寬5公尺的彩虹布旗，自艾菲爾鐵塔頂端垂掛而下，原定三天的展示因首日強陣風的緣故，巴黎政府要求在第一天展示完即卸除，成為Ay-O彩虹即興活動中的一大壯舉。
彩虹的光譜是自然界中具體存在的事物， Ay-O的創作中屏棄人造的線條，著手嘗試在作品中使用彩虹的所有顏色，並跟隨自然界光譜由紅到紫的色彩排序，實驗以彩虹覆蓋所有物件，真實世界中彩虹的顏色無法被清楚區分，因此在他的作品中，對於在色彩與色彩之間創作出更多漸層色，有著無盡的可能。此概念如同法國藝術家伊夫・克萊因（Yves Klein），以純粹單色的藍探討宇宙的真理，而Ay-O以彩虹的色彩相應宇宙的浩瀚，同時也象徵著自由與沒有分別的世界觀。
1960 年代，隨著美國廣告業興起，網版印刷的需求量大增，Ay-O也開始與兩位十分信賴的絲網印刷夥伴岡部德三（Tokuzo Okabe） 及助田憲亮（Kenryo Sukeda）一同製作版畫。他曾表示，當時版畫被貶為『半畫』，世人對版畫保持鄙夷的態度，普遍認為版畫的價值不如油畫。但他不以為意，直言不諱地評判這樣的思維，他相信藝術家與印刷師同為作品的創作者。 作品〈彩虹北齋〉，以彩虹重新詮釋江戶時代浮世繪畫師葛飾北齋的作品，將彩虹的精髓注入現有的作品中，此作品於1970年獲得第七屆東京國際版畫雙年展東京賞。本次展覽展出了40多幅Ay-O自 1970 年代以來的版畫。 帶領所有觀者踏上一趟繽紛的彩虹之旅。
(1) 獨賣獨立展（The Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition）：1949年2月，獨賣新聞社主辦了「第一屆獨立展」，此展覽是戰後藝術界民主化的標竿，對當代藝術的開展發揮了重要的影響力，每年舉辦一次至1963年結束，傑克遜・波洛克（Jackson Pollock）、河原溫（On Kawara）、篠原有司男（Ushio Shinohara）、高松次郎（Jiro Takamatsu）、赤瀨川原平（Genpei Akasegawa）、中西夏之（Natsuyuki Nakanishi）等重要藝術家皆曾參與展出。
(2)瑛九（Ei-Q)（1911-1960）本名杉田秀夫，日本前衛藝術家，善於使用繪畫、攝影、蝕刻版畫、石版畫等不同媒材創作超現實及抽象作品，於1950年代組成並帶領「民主美術協會」（Demokrato Artist Association），成為開創日本戰後藝術的先鋒之一。
(3)激浪派（Fluxus）：由喬治・馬修那斯（George Maciunas）創立，活躍於1960年代初期至1970年代後期，包含Ay-O在內共有超過60為藝術家參與其中，小野洋子（Yoko Ono）、白南準（Nam June Paik）、艾莉森・諾爾斯（Alison Knowles）、夏洛特・摩曼（Charlotte Moorman）及拉蒙特・揚（La Monte Young）等人皆為激浪派成員。
Ay-O（靉嘔）的命名由來
藝名Ay-O來自A、I、O，當時他讓朋友們從日文母音A、I、U、E、O中選出他們最喜歡的母音，其中A、I、O是最受歡迎的，大約在1954年左右，他開始將I改成Y，以便讓大家能夠輕鬆地念出正確的讀音。
在日文漢字中AI是「靉」，左手邊是漢字的「雲」，早期他特別喜歡畫天空中的雲朵，所以才從字典中找出這個複雜的字使用。至於O「嘔」是嘔吐的嘔，來自一本存在哲學家尚-保羅・沙特（Jean-Paul Sartre）所寫的小說《嘔吐》，當時Ay-O對他的著作非常著迷。
“Line travels toward infinity, but color itself is infinite. Through color, I experience the complete vastness of the universe, then, I am truly free.”— Ay-O
Takao Iijima (born May 19, 1931), better known as his artist name Ay-O. He was born in Ibaraki prefecture. Graduated from Tokyo University of Education. Ay-O started showing his works at the Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition(1) at the age of 22. In 1953, Ay-O joined the Demokrato Artist Association with On Kawara. It was an innovative group led by the surrealist painter Ei-Q(2) to promote independence in the creation of art. Demokrato was a place without judgment or hierarchy where Ay-O could create freely. It was a “utopia” for him. Ay-O left for the United States in 1958. He participated in the international avant-garde art movement Fluxus(3) with the introduction of Yoko Ono. As a prominent member of Fluxus, Ay-O participated in different performances with artists from various creative fields including painters, musicians, composers, writers and dancers. In 1964, they organized Rainbow Happening No.1 (Rainbow Music No.1), the piece referred to the sense of hearing as part of the Fluxus Orchestra Concert at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. Next year, to stimulate the visual and sense of taste of the guests, they serve food in six different colors as Rainbow Happening No.4 (Rainbow Dinner) at Café Au Go Go, a club in the basement of New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre in New York. Inspired by the exploration of senses, he created tactile environments or ‘atmosphere art.’ He also made installations known as ‘environmental art’ and many other works that could be directly touched and experience by viewers.
In 1966, Ay-O exhibited in the 33rd Venice Biennale. He created a full-scale rainbow world, entitled “Rainbow Tactile Room.” The walls are covered by wavy rainbow colors and decorated with 65 Finger Boxes. Each Finger Box, surprised the guest with radio sound, cold water, textures and many more experiences waiting for visitors to explore. Because of this work, Ay-O received extensive media coverage around the world. People started to recognize him as “the Rainbow Artist.” In 1987, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Expo Universelle1937 the city of Paris organized the Series of Rainbow Happening No. 17 in the ancient venue at the Trocadero Garden as one of the events. It was a magnificent project consists of hanging 24 Rainbow colored ribbon made with a 300m long and 5m wide cloth from the top of Eiffel Tower. It was originally planned to be on view for three days, however, due to the strong gust of wind on the installation day, the authority of the city of Paris requested to remove it after the first day.
Ay-O attempted to express the spectrum of the rainbow as “something concrete which exists in nature.” He discarded artificial lines in his creation and came up with the idea of using all the colors at once. Moreover, he follows the principle of not changing the natural physical order of the colors from red to violet. He began making visual experimental works covering everything around him in rainbow colors. By doing so, he eliminated previous three-dimensional and four-dimensional existence. The boundaries between colors cannot be clearly distinguished in a real rainbow, thus the possibility of Ay-O dividing each color and creating more and more colors in between in his works is endless. Just as French artist Yves Klein explore the truth of the universe through his pure monochromatic paintings. Ay-O connects with the vastness of the universe through colors of the rainbow. At the same time, it symbolized the freedom of the spirits and different viewpoints of the world.
In 1960s, he began producing prints with two trusted printers Tokuzo Okabe and Kenryo Sukeda. According to Ay-O, “Back then, print was belittled as ‘Hanga’ (half-picture) and looked down upon as an inferior to oil painting.” However, he was a vocal critic of the dismissal of prints as being of lesser artistic value than paintings. He believes that the painters and printers are both creators of the works. In 1970, he won the Tokyo prize of the 7th Tokyo International Print Biennale with ‘Rainbow Hokusai.’ He creates his won work by brining in the essence of rainbow colors onto the original works. This exhibition showcases more than 40 of Ay-O’s prints since the 1970s. Taking all the viewers on a journey into Ay-O’s colorful world.
(1) The Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition: Established by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper in February, 1949. This exhibition is a benchmark for the democratization of the post-war art world. It has played an important role in the development of contemporary art. It was held annually until 1963. Influential artists such as Jackson Pollock, On Kawara, Ushio Shinohara, Jiro Takamatsu, Genpei Akasegawa, Natsuyuki Nakanishi participated in the exhibition.
(2)Ei-Q (1911-1960) was the pseudonym of Sugita Hideo, an avant-garde artist working in surrealist and abstract styles in the media of painting, photograms and, latterly, etching and lithographs. Formed and led Demokrato Artists Association in 1950s. He was one of the pioneers of Japanese postwar art.
(3) Fluxus: An avant-garde art movement founded by George Maciunas. It was mainly active from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. Besides Ay-O, over 60 artists were associated with Fluxus, including Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Alison Knowles, Charlotte Moorman, and La Monte Young.
Why is his name Ay-O（靉嘔）?
The pseudonym Ay-O cam from A, I and O. He asked his friends to pick from their favorite Japanese vowels: A, I, U, E, O. A, I and O are the three most popular ones. Around 1954, he started spelling the pseudonym with a “y” instead of and “I”, so that people can easily pronounce his name correctly.
The Kanji for “AI” is “靉” the left sided of the work is composed of the Kanji “cloud” (雲). He used to paint a lot of pictures of clouds in the sky at that time. That’s why he found this complicated and interesting character to use from a dictionary. As for “O” (嘔), he took this word from “nausea” (嘔吐). It’s a reference from the novel Nausea written by the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre that Ay-O had then admired.
Image | Courtesy of Whitestone
