“Our first impression of New York is that it was such a filthy city. But it also made sense to us that this was the city where Pop art was born. Motonaga used to say, ‘Everyone here is so relaxed when they paint.’ And he felt that gave him permission to relax his approach to his art.”—Etsuko Nakatsuji
You just have a few days left to catch the Sadamasa Motonaga exhibition, Change/Continuity: New York 1966-67 (through December 21, 2018) at Fergus McCaffrey in Chelsea. A founder of the Gutai group in post-war Japan, Motonaga (1922–2011) was occasionally at odds with the group, in particular during a pivotal period in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, including a year in New York from 1966-1967. The exhibition covers the work created by Motonaga during this time. This video further illuminates the story of that fertile period for the artist, including interviews with his wife, artist Etsuko Nakatsuji, and other friends and colleagues from the period.