
"In front of me lay an austere road to originality. Run forward, I thought, run and run, it won’t matter if I fall down... Let me do it with my hands, with my fingers. Then, as I ran, thinking that I was moving forward, it occurred to me: Why not feet? Why don’t I paint with my feet?" Kazuo Shiraga, 1955
Kazuo Shiraga's monumental canvas erupts in a visceral explosion of thickly applied oil paint, its turbulent surface bearing the physical traces of the artist's body as he swung from a suspended rope and dragged his bare feet through the pigment below. Deep crimson, black, and earthy tones churn and collide across the composition, recording the gestural violence and raw energy of Shiraga's radical performance. The work stands as a defiant rejection of traditional mark-making, transforming the act of painting into a primal, full-bodied struggle between the artist and his medium.
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Phillips
🔨 Auction Lot
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale
November 10, 2015
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