Profile

Yoshida Toshiro (1928–1997) was a founding member of the Gutai Art Association, and contributed greatly to the smooth running of the association, not only as an artist, but also in charge of administrative duties such as record keeping, accounting, and liaison, and also as secretary to Yoshihara Jiro.

He studied under Yoshihara in 1953 and participated in the formation of the association the following year. In the early days, he sought unique methods of expression to replace the paintbrush, such as drilling holes in the painting surface with an air gun and scorching the board. From the second Gutai Art Exhibition in 1956, he began to create works using a watering can, and initially his works were expressions of splashing paint on flat painting surfaces, but gradually he developed a style of layering powerful strokes on highly uneven matières. After the 15th exhibition in 1965, he further expanded his experimentation with materials and techniques, such as installations that generated bubbles using a tropical fish pump and detergent, and works using urethane foam.