Untitled

The thickly applied paint of this untitled painting demonstrates the distinctness, rich tactility, and three-dimensionality of Imai Toshimitsu’s paintings. When Imai moved to Paris in 1952, the city was swept up by Art Informel—Europe’s version of America’s Abstract Expressionism, an abstract art movement characterized by spontaneous brushstrokes, improvisation, and gestural technique. Abandoning fixed forms and images, the artists applied paint in a thick impasto to convey a sense of fluidity and indeterminate texture. By doing so, they created a universal visual language, which allowed multiple ways of interpretation. The involvement of international artists such as Imai, along with Zao Wou Ki and Hisao Domoto, in Art Informel contributed to the movement significantly, as they shared aesthetic theories and philosophies with other artists from different cultures. - Chi-Lynn Lin, "Echoing Overseas" label text, Fall 2022