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Morita Shiryū 森田子龍
Manaita 俎
1963
‘Manaita’ is a character takenfrom the Japanese proverb ‘Manaita no Koi ’, which literally means ‘a carp laid on the chopping board’ and refers to one’s fate being held in the hands of others. Morita Shiryu¯ favoured this character, because it captured his feelings of anxiety as an artist constantly subjected to public opinion. To widen the appeal of calligraphy to non-readers of Chinese characters (kanji), Morita reduced the character’s legibility and instead emphasised its material quality, using specialty ink to create a surface sheen and making it seem like an abstract painting. With a de-emphasis on symbolic language, much of the meaning of the piece falls to the given title.
The Weight of Lightness: Ink Art at M+. M+ Pavilion, Hong Kong, 13 October 2017–14 January 2018
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