Discontinuous Lines: Julije Knifer and Kumi Sugai: TERRADA ART COMPLEX l BONDED GALLERY 4F, Tokyo, Japan

10 - 29 April 2025

Overview

galerie frank elbaz
TERRADA ART COMPLEX lI BONDED GALLERY 4F
1 Chome-32-8 Higashishinagawa
Shinagawa City, Tokyo
140-0002, Japan

The exhibition was conceived under the guidance of Kenjiro Okazaki. Presented in collaboration with Nantenshi Gallery, it showcases two avant-garde abstract painters: Julije Knifer and Kumi Sugai.

Born in Croatia in 1924, Knifer is known for his repeated depiction of motifs called “Meander,” which he rendered almost exclusively in black and white throughout his life. He was also a member of the Croatian avant-garde art group “Gorgona.” Sugai, born in 1919, initially worked as a commercial designer before moving to Paris to pursue a career as a painter. In the 1960s, both Knifer and Sugai began creating geometric abstract paintings characterized by clear color planes and structural elements.

Knifer’s abstract paintings feature discontinuous lines based on the “Meander”, while Sugai used the letter “S”— also his initial—as a central motif. The motifs in their paintings, emerging from an exploration of simplified elements and visual intensity, relate to infrastructure such as roads and tubular systems, functioning as symbols in public spaces. This connection highlights the resonance between mega-structures like architecture and urban planning and the realm of abstract painting.

This exhibition reveals the resonance of the two painters, both of whom developed meandering passages and discontinuous lines during the transformative era of avant-garde art in the 1960s and 70s. When viewed through the lens of the politics of form, the works of Knifer and Sugai reveal significant commonalities.

This marks the first time Knifer’s work will be exhibited in Japan. Additionally, a booklet published in conjunction with the exhibition will include an essay by art critic Ryo Sawayama, reevaluating the resonant relationship between the two artists’ works through the lenses of continuity and disjunction, the visualization of processes, and visual intensity, while exploring their contemporary significance.