Kishio Suga: Writings, Vol. 1, 1969–1979

One of the key figures in Japan’s pivotal Mono-ha phenomenon of the late 1960s and early 1970s, artist Kishio Suga has realized a visionary practice of ephemeral, site-specific installations and performative interventions into the everyday environment. From almost imperceptible arrangements of natural materials at outdoor locations to sprawling structures presented in galleries and museums, his works challenge both the institution of art and anthropocentric perceptions of the world.

Developed in conversation with local and international movements of the time, such as Anti-Art, Conceptual art, and Land art, Suga’s theoretical writings were a driving factor in advancing his artistic project. At turns poetic and philosophical, and always playfully combative, his texts argue for art to be an immersive field of radical equality with-and-among all things. The translations collected here make Suga’s thinking accessible to English readers as a comprehensive body of work for the first time. Included in this volume are early critical reflections composed under the pseudonym Katsuragawa Sei, fragmentary statements presented in the exhibition listings of the art journal Bijutsu Techō, and groundbreaking long-form essays from the first decade of Suga’s career. 

Edited by Andrew Maerkle, Ashley Rawlings, and Sen Uesaki. Translated with text by Andrew Maerkle.

Physical description:
Hardcover, 264 pages
Milan: Skira Editore; Los Angeles: Blum & Poe; São Paulo: Mendes Wood DM, 2021
ISBN: 978-88-572-4561-4
6.5 x 9.5 inches