Composition of Rotary Planes 回転する面による構成

Shozo Kitadai was one of the original members of Jikken Kobo (Experimental Studio), a group first formed in 1951 by individuals specializing in painting, music, and literature. Led by the poet and critic Shuzo Takiguchi, they staged ballet performances and musical concerts, with each member in charge of various aspects such as music composition and stage design. They also produced experimental films and exhibited works that, for example, combined music and images projected with an automatic slide projector. Through such efforts, Jikken Kobo tried to achieve a composite art that transcended genre or media. Kitadai, too, participated in many activities such as stage art, design, and video.
Kitadai began painting around 1948, before he joined Jikken Kobo. Seeing his solo exhibition at Takemiya Gallery in 1951, Taro Okamoto praised his work highly: "In contrast to almost all other Japanese abstract painting, which is based on the human, on taste and preference, his work presents the scientific in modern abstraction." From the first, Kitadai's paintings were geometric abstractions that totally rejected the emotional. Few painters were pursuing such pure abstraction in painting in the early 1950s. Kitadai's works, supported by his knowledge of the natural sciences and engineering, were precise and intellectual. The painting shown here is also a geometric composition, but involves a more sophisticated modern sensibility and an inclination toward three-dimensional space. After working with painting, Kitadai became fascinated with the creation of mobiles. This piece is connected with this development in his art.