Kiyoji Ōtsuji photographed many of the ephemeral, performative activities of members of the Gutai Art Association. Some important happenings captured by Ōtsuji include Atsuko Tanaka’s Electric Dress; Murakami Saburō’s passing through sheets of paper; Sadamasa Motonaga’s Smoke performance; as well as Kazuo Shiraga’s foot painting. Documenting pioneers in the realm of performance art, this suite of photographs remains an important record of a crucial moment in postwar Japanese art.

Excerpt from

Anna Katherine Brodbeck, ed., TWO X TWO X TWENTY: Two Decades Supporting Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art), 2018.