”My weight can sit on the sofa.” （Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver）
This exhibition will feature approximately 20 works by Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver, with a focus on “Weight,” one of his representative works. His large-scale solo exhibition “Breath Amorphous” was held in 2022 at BankART KAIKO + BankART Station (Yokohama), which is still fresh in our memories, but this exhibition will be his first solo exhibition in the Kansai area since the “EX-SIGN” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Shiga (now the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art) in 2010. Please come and see it.
According to the artist himself, the title of the work, “Weight,” is as follows:
‘Weight (Human Ball)’ (stainless-steel ball) has the same weight as the artist’s body. There are nine versions of the work based on the same concept (1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990). (In 2022, ‘2022 version’ was produced with marble under the same concept.)
Below is the author’s biography generated by AI/ChatGPT-4 in December 2025 (unedited)
Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver is a unique artist among postwar Japanese avant-garde artists. His work, while shifting in form, location, and media over the years, continues to explore fundamental questions about self and existence. While highly experimental and conceptual, his work incorporates performance and physicality, creating a strong connection with the audience. His works have been collected by museums both in Japan and abroad, and in recent years, they have been gaining recognition and re-evaluation. The 2022 “Breath Amorphous” exhibition is a prime example. He continues to garner attention both in Japan and abroad.
*Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver was born in 1947 in Hashimoto, Seta-cho, Kurita-gun, Shiga Prefecture (now Seta, Otsu City). His real name was Shuzo Azuchi. He had a strong interest in art from a young age, and while attending Shiga Prefectural Zeze High School, he began creating works incorporating happening-like actions (e.g., “Grassfield” in 1964). His artistic practice included an early dialogue with Western avant-garde and conceptual art, including an interest in philosophical and theoretical thought and the influence of Marcel Duchamp.
* In 1967, he moved to Tokyo and developed happening projects, including experimental films and street/public space actions and performances. He joined the Kansai avant-garde art collective THE PLAY and began interacting with domestic and international avant-garde movements, including Fluxus.
* In 1973, he began the “BODY (Body Contract) Series.” This project involved dividing his own body into 80 parts, each of which was to be kept by 80 contracted individuals after his death. This is a representative body of work that addresses questions of life, death, self, and existence.
* Since the 1980s, he has continued to create endurance performances (e.g., “De-Story,” a performance in which he spent a certain amount of time inside a rectangular parallelepiped structure) and works that address the body, space, and structure.
* Since the 1990s, he has exhibited more and more in Europe, focusing on themes such as symbols, language, measurement, and memory, using the symbolism of DNA bases (A, T, C, G).
He employs a variety of media, including drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance. He is based in Tokyo and Europe, and is active both domestically and internationally.
He continues to create art, exploring themes such as “existence,” “self,” “signs,” “form,” and “biological foundations.”
Below are some of his most notable solo and group exhibitions and projects that have been particularly well-received or widely introduced.
“EX-SIGN”: The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga (now the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art), 2010. Approximately 120 works were exhibited. This comprehensive solo exhibition surveyed his early to recent works.
“Breath Amorphous”: October 7–November 27, 2022, BankART KAIKO + BankART Station (Yokohama).
A large-scale solo exhibition looking back on his work over half a century. Many recent works are also on display.
Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver’s Cinematic Illumination: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, 2020.
“On a bien accroché”: Maison Grégoire, Belgium, 2018. Group exhibition.
“1968: Art in Turbulent Times”: Chiba City Museum of Art, 2018. An exhibition exploring the relationship between art and the cultural, political, and social upheaval of the late 1960s. “IN THE SHADOW OF POP”: Tate Modern (London), 2016. An exhibition exploring the influence of Pop Art and subsequent expression. Works were exhibited as one of the participating artists.
