Simon Lee Gallery is proud to present a concise survey exhibition of paintings by Japanese artist Ryuji Tanaka, his first posthumous solo presentation in the UK. A recognised member of two avant-garde groups that are synonymous with post-war Japanese art: the Pan-real Art Association and Gutai Art Association, Tanaka’s legacy lies in his desire to evolve a unique artistic style that is at once experimental, and yet deeply rooted in the traditional Japanese-style painting - nihon-ga.
Spanning work made between the 1960s and 1990s, this survey traces the evolution of Tanaka’s style from his dark and intense early paintings, which demonstrate abstract experiments with nihon-ga materials, to the refinement of his later works that display a fresh and profound lyricism through the use of colour.
