Kikuo Saito

Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle and James Fuentes Gallery are pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by the Japanese-born American artist Kikuo Saito (1939-2016) drawn from the artist’s estate. This is the gallery’s first exhibition with the artist’s estate.
Often overlooked in canonical art historical discourses during his lifetime, Saito’s work is rooted in the tradition of American Color Field Painting after Helen Frankenthaler and Kenneth Noland, as well as Abstract Expressionism and Lyrical Abstraction. Significantly informed by his personal experience with experimental theater and his own inter- and intracultural biography, Saito’s gestural works reflect the dialogic relationship between painting and performance while exploring ways in which painting, similar to theater, can solidify action and emotion.

Kikuo Saito
Spanish Pink, 2003
Öl auf Leinwand
144 x 168 cm
© Kikuo Saito Estate, courtesy of James Fuentes Gallery