Mono-ha is an art movement that emerged in Japan in the mid-1960s. Its main spirit is to use natural materials or unprocessed man-made objects to present them in their most primitive form. These materials are no longer just mediums for artistic creation, but have become the art itself. The movement seeks to explore the characteristics of materials and avoid excessive processing and modification. By reducing objects to their original form, Mono-ha artists seek to discover the connections between objects and transcend the essential existence of form and appearance. The spirit advocated by Mono-ha is also a response to Japan's highly industrialized and ruthless development.
The goal of Mono-ha artists is to combine "things" as much as possible without changing a single aspect, and present the original vocabulary of the materials. Therefore, artists are no longer "creating," but rather rearranging things into artworks. The movement emphasizes the "things" themselves and their relationships with the surrounding space. In the history of art, Mono-ha's creations are considered to have commonalities with American Minimal Art, Italian Arte Povera, global Post-Minimalism, and French Supports/Surfaces, among others. The establishment and uniqueness of Mono-ha demonstrate its importance as a key element in the development of new global art in Japan in the 1960s.
Different from other Japanese art groups of the 1960s, such as the Gutai group, Neo-Dada or Hi-Red Center, which marked their identity and evolution as an organization through exhibitions with their names, Mono-ha did not use "Mono-ha art exhibition" to label themselves. In the modern history of Japan's collectivism, holding exhibitions is a standard procedure for organizations to declare their identity. It was not until 1968, when Nobuo Sekine exhibited his work "Phase-Mother Earth" at the first Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition held at the Kobe Suma Rikyu Park, that art museums and important institutions began to hold Mono-ha exhibitions.
Nobuo Sekine
As one of the central figures of the Mono-ha movement, Nobuo Sekine's work "Phase - Mother Earth" propelled the development of Mono-ha and sparked strong aspirations among his peers at Tama Art University. His friends, Susumu Koshimizu and Katsuro Yoshida, were also students at Tama Art University and helped him in the process of creating "Phase - Mother Earth", after which both also became Mono-ha artists. Subsequently, Sekine met Korean-born artist Lee Ufan in Shinjuku and began a close exchange with him. Sekine was attracted to Lee Ufan's theory of art based on the Kyoto School of Heidegger and Nishida Kitaro and was deeply influenced by it. During the period from 1968 to 1970, a series of works created by Sekine were accompanied by Lee Ufan's rich theory. Their relationship was very close, and Lee Ufan even introduced Sekine to his circle of friends, arranging regular meetings at the "Top" coffee shop next to Nishi-Shinjuku station. Through constant dialogue in a short period of time, they gradually formed the Mono-ha ideology.
Nobuo Sekine was born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan in 1942 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from Tama Art University in 1968. He was particularly interested in topology (topological geometry) in the field of mathematics, which primarily studies properties in space that remain invariant under continuous transformations. His interest in the subject led to breakthroughs in his creative work. In 1968, "Phase - Mother Earth" was created, considered a seminal work of Mono-ha, and was made by Sekine himself. The sculpture consists of a six-meter diameter hole, and the dug-up soil was compacted into a cylinder of the same size. In 1970, he represented Japan at the Venice Biennale and balanced a giant piece of marble on a mirrored stainless steel column, reflecting the surrounding environment, precisely demonstrating the basic concepts of Mono-ha. Today, this work is permanently displayed at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark. He continued to create large-scale sculptures, as well as mural works that incorporated painting and shallow relief elements, and was also commissioned to create many public art projects in Japan. Sekine's work "Phase - No. 8-9" was sold for US$106,000 at Van ham Kunstauktionen auction house in 2015, and his works are now collected in major important museums, including the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Osaka National Museum of Art, and Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
Lee Ufan
Lee Ufan, an artist born in Korea, brings his love for both Eastern and Western philosophy into his art practice. He is not only an artist but also a theorist and writer. Born in 1936 in Korea, Lee studied Oriental painting at Seoul National University before moving to Japan to study philosophy at a university there. After graduation, he began studying Japanese painting and was influenced by Nobuo Sekine, who led him to focus on creating works with primitive, natural, and industrial materials. He completed his series "Relatum" and showcased it for the first time with his work "Phenomenon and Perception B" at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, which was the first piece he created specifically for the exhibition space. His art explores the connections between objects, as well as the relationship between objects and space.
In the 1970s, Lee returned to painting and reflected on his experience studying calligraphy in the past while exploring the concept of time in his work. His representative works during this period were "From Point" and "From Line." He later created series such as "Wind," "Correspondence," and "Dialogue" to explore dynamics, time, gestures, and space between each other, while also incorporating the evolution of his painting into his "Relatum" series.
As a representative figure of Mono-ha, Lee Ufan has played an important role in influencing post-war Japanese art. In 2010, the Lee Ufan Museum was opened on Naoshima Island, designed by Tadao Ando. Lee has also represented Japan twice at the Venice Biennale. In 2012, "From Point" was sold for over $2.2 million at a Seoul Auction in Hong Kong. Today, major institutions such as Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Tate Modern in London, and Seoul Museum of Arts collect Lee’s works.
Susumu Koshimizu
Susumu Koshimizu was born in 1944 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan, and graduated from Tama Art University. He assisted artist Nobuo Sekine in completing the work "Phase - Earth". Susume’s sculpture works focus on the inherent but invisible nature of objects, emphasizing the characteristics of the materials themselves. Through arrangement and combination, he presents his attention to objects and reveals a basic principle of sculpture.
In his representative work "Paper (formerly Paper 2)", Susume placed a large stone in a Japanese paper envelope larger than the stone. One side of the envelope is open, and the internal structure is connected to the external form. The solid hardness of the stone contrasts sharply with the covering paper. Through this creative technique, he successfully demonstrates the interaction between materials and highlights the characteristics of the materials themselves.
Susumu Koshimizu 's works have participated in international exhibitions such as the São Paulo Biennial, the Venice Biennale, and the Paris Youth Biennale. His works are not just artistic creations, but also a pursuit of research and exploration into the material world.
Kishio Suga
Shigeo Suga is one of the most representative artists of the Mono-ha movement, born in Iwate, Japan in 1944 and a graduate of Tama Art University. His works often utilize raw, unprocessed materials and through careful arrangement and placement, create a unique form of art. He completes his works with the least amount of intervention and they often possess a temporal quality.
Suga's works include not only visual art but also performance art, which he refers to as "activation". He uses performance art to establish a framework for the relationship between materials and space, and then deconstructs them. Through the use of raw materials, objects, space, and the audience are all interconnected, and his works are filled with Zen-like philosophy and deeply express his exploration and understanding of life, nature, and the universe.
The artist's creations have been internationally recognized, and his works are housed in major art museums around the world, such as the Tate Modern in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He has participated in important international art exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale, São Paulo Biennial, and Paris Biennale.
Top photo：Kishio Suga, Parallel Strata, 1969/2012. Courtesy Blum & Poe.
Photo 2 left one：Susumu Koshimizu, From Surface to Surface, 1971, remade 1986 © Susumu Koshimizu
Photo 2 middle left：Nobuo Sekine, Landscape of Vibration, Cone of Wave, 1993. Tama Cemetery, Mitama-dō, Tokyo. © Nobuo Sekine
Photo 2 lower left：Noriyuki Haraguchi, Oil Pool, 1970/2015. Courtesy Fergus McCaffrey
Photo 2 right one：Nobuo Sekine, Phase-Mother Earth, 1968 Photo by Osamu Murai
Photo 2 middle right：Lee Ufan, From Line, 1974. © Lee Ufan
Photo 2 lower right：Kishio Suga, Parallel Strata, 1969/2012. Courtesy Blum & Poe
