"Yúsekai", 1992

Kazuo Shiraga counts among the most important contemporary painters in Japan and is a main representative of Japanese abstract expressionism. Nevertheless, Japanese tradition and philosophy seeking for a wholesome balance of body and mind, nature and culture plays a central role in Shiraga’s artistic approach. The idea of a soulful world, if not universe, is also present in his gouache “Yúsekai”, as the title translates as “world of hot water”, implying a mindful essence in action even in material things of the surrounding world.