Shôzô Shimamoto

was a Japanese artist. Having studied with Jirō Yoshihara, the future Gutai leader, from 1947, Shimamoto was a key founding member of Gutai along with Yoshihara and fifteen others in August, 1954. He was close to the leader Yoshihara and actively engaged in the early activities and group administrations. He [expand this here more in an evocative manner: holes poked on layered newspaper, bottle-throwing paintings, film experiments, stage experiments, sound art, etc. etc.] He was particularly strong with performative innovations, anticipating the future performance art. Indeed, when Yoshihara turned to focus more on painting, upon his meeting with the French art critic Michel Tapié, Shimamoto continued to urge the leader to pursue this direction, wanting to work with Allan Kaprow, for example. After Gutai, he became known for his mail art activities with the group AU and the continuation of his painting performances which he staged around the world. He died of acute heart failure in Nishinomiya City, Hyōgo prefecture. Early years Prior to this, Shimamoto had been a student of Yoshihara’s since he was nineteen, beginning in 1947. In 1950, he graduated from the School of Humanities, Kwansei Gakuin University in 1950.