Ay-O (b.1931), Japanese

“This is another painting by Joe Hendry exploring the theme of the kilted Scottish figure. The man is shown from behind, hands clasped behind his back, standing quite calmly on the canvas.

What I like about this one is its simplicity. There’s nothing complicated about it — just a figure, a kilt, and a quiet bit of attitude. Hendry manages to make something very Scottish feel fresh and contemporary at the same time.”

Ay-O (born 1931 in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese artist associated with the international Fluxus movement, an experimental avant-garde network of artists active during the 1960s and 1970s. He studied at the Tokyo University of Education (now the University of Tsukuba), graduating in the mid-1950s before moving to New York in 1958, where he became involved with the emerging Fluxus circle.

During the early 1960s Ay-O worked closely with artists connected to Fluxus, including George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, and Yoko Ono. The movement challenged conventional ideas about art by combining performance, objects, music and conceptual practices.

Ay-O is best known for his distinctive “rainbow” imagery, which became a central motif in his work from the 1960s onward. These brightly coloured gradient stripes appear in prints, paintings, installations and multiples, and are intended to evoke visual sensation and playful engagement with colour.

Among his notable Fluxus works are the “Finger Boxes” (1960s), interactive objects inviting viewers to explore textures by inserting their fingers into small boxes. His rainbow imagery also appeared in numerous woodblock prints, lithographs and screenprints, which helped introduce his work to an international audience.

Ay-O has exhibited widely in museums and galleries around the world, and his work is held in major public collections including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Tate, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.

Today Ay-O is recognised as one of the most prominent Japanese artists associated with Fluxus, known for works that combine humour, colour and sensory experimentation.