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Atsuko Tanaka
Atsuka Tanaka in 1957 wearing Electric Dress
Bio:
Born in Osaka on February 10, 1932. She attended local art school, Art Institute of Osaka Municipal Museum of Art in 1950. Then in 1951 Tanaka attended the Department of Western Painting at Kyoto Municipal College of Art, where she met her future husband Akira Kanayama. In 1955 Tanaka became involved in the Zero-kai or Zero society, an experimental art orginization founded by Kanayama. That same year Tanaka and Kanayama became members of the Gutai group and remained members until 1965 when they were married. Tanaka produced most of her work at this time at home and at her parent's house. She died on December 3, 2005 of pneumonia at the age of 73.
Zero-kai:
The zero-kai or zero society was a experimental art group created by Akira Kanayama in 1952. The Zero society emphasized that "every work of art begins with nothing". The name was given to emphasize the members' basic principles. Atsuko Tanaka, Akira Kanayama and 10 other members made up the group and met regularly once a week to criticize each others work. The group lasted for 3 years till many members became part of the Gutai group. While in the Zero Society Tanaka's work was representative of the groups emphasis of the "minimal", little variation in tone, color, and brush strokes. However, Tanka's work was mostly made with textiles as she found canvas and paper as old fashioned. Tanaka started out using linen and then moved on to cotton in order to avoid association with traditional western painting. Later in 1955, Tanaka began to use nylon in her work. Tanaka's use of nylon was a symbol of backlash to traditional aesthetics and an support of modern Japan.
"Untitled", 1964 In 1953, Tanaka came down with an illness and was hospitalized. During this time the only ting she had to look at was a calendar on the wall. While in a hallucinatory state, Tanaka viewed the numbers on the calendar lost all meanings. The numbers lost order and meaning and as such sparked her interested in infinity. Following this Tanaka started to created works on cloth and newspaper that had numbers written on them with no solid meaning.
 Work(Sakuhin), 1955 Once part of the Gutai:
Once Tanaka became part of the Gutai she worked on bigger exhibition pieces. In 1955, Tananka constructed open are exhibitions that consisted of pink nylon cloth. The cloth was fixed to the ground so that sunlight could reflect of it and the wind could give the cloth motion. Tanaka favored the exhibition to "life with its vibrations."
Tokyo Work, 1955 (reconstructed 2007) Also in 1955 during the Gutai exhibitions in the Ohara Kaikan hall in Tokyo, Takana constructed the Bell Piece. It took 6 months to constructed and was made as a "sound painting". Tanaka used twenty electric bells and 150 feet of cord and created a web around several gallery spaces. As such if one bell was activated the other bells would be set off as well. The construction allowed for odd interval chimes behind and ahead of tour groups during the exhibition.
Untitled-Study for Bell Piece
Tanaka's most famous piece was the Electric Dress (1956). The piece was a cloak constructed of hundred's of lights colored in primary colors that flashed when turned on. Tanaka wore the piece during numerous Gutai exhibitions as a statement to feminine fashion. The Electric Dress sprang from Tanaka's mocking of stage performance. Tanaka would appeared in layers of large paper dresses, which she took off one at a time. At the end she was left wearing a black leotard hung with blinking lights.
Sources: Munroe, Alexandra. Japanese Art After 1945:Scream Against the Sky. New York: Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, 1994. Westgeest, Helen. Zen in the Fifties, Zwolle: Waanders Publishers, 1996. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atsuko_Tanaka_(artist)
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