Kikuo Saito Japanese-American, 1939-2016

In this early work, Saito combines an attention to luminous color with the gestural lyricism that would become characteristic of the artist's later works. Saito created a series of large-scale canvases that have a field of space and color that conveys depth and on top there sits marks and movements that flare, move and recede. With ties to the Color Field tradition, Saito’s color landscapes are a richly infused exhibition of dragged and poured paint, often with bold flecks of color, animated calligraphic line, and stenciled lettering. Influenced by his work in theatre, many of his compositions are directly related to the orchestration of wordless dramas set within artistic frameworks of light, costume, music and dance. Saito created a wonderful body of work which was not early in any of the movements that he draws from but only possible by having digested them and then adding his own experiences.