【Introduction】

Richard Tuttle is one of the most significant artists at work today. Tuttle’s oeuvre over his long artistic career of almost half a century since the mid – 1960s comprises extraordinarily multifarious body of work that is beyond any categorization. It arises from “in-between” sphere of sculpture, painting, drawing, collage, installation, language and poetry. All of his work posses a sense of autonomy and independence: it is self-defined and not limited to any set description or representation. The works’ own features – line, form, texture, color, volume – are weaved into fresh and poetic, alternative visual language that is outside of existing preconceptions or representation systems, and play out as spatial development with rich sensory engagement. The works are created with humble and fragile materials such as paper, wood, wire or metal piece. The more self-evident and ephemeral the work seems, the more it becomes filled with spirituality and surprise.
Tuttle held his first solo exhibition in 1965 at Betty Parsons Gallery in NY, the most significant galley at the time. Since then, Tuttle has presented prominent and influential series in the history of contemporary art such as the cloth pieces, which he installed dyed and cut canvas on the wall, and were both pictorial and three-dimensional, and the wire pieces, which consisted of wire and its shadow and pencil lines, and small-scale collage pieces among others. As a post-minimalist he has been influential for next generations. In recent years, Tuttle has presented a large-scale series “Systems” that explores sculptures as spatial interpretation rather than three-dimensional form. He continues creating works in the process of investigation and invention with improvisation and discovery, turning the space where they are exhibited and experience of it into a part of the work itself.

【Concept】

Tuttle has been an artist in residence at The Getty Research Institute since September 2012. In this long-awaited solo exhibition in Japan, Tuttle will present new works including wall sculptures and drawings created during the residency. This is his third solo exhibition after 2002 and 2007 with Tomio Koyama Gallery, and his first at the gallery’s Kyoto space.