Saburo Murakami

Keen to explore new approaches to art, Japanese painter and pioneer of performance art, Saburo Murakami formed the Zero-kai (Zero Group) together with, among others, Kazuo Shiraga in 1952. Murakami was also one of the best-known members of the Gutai Art Association, which he joined in 1955. The same year he became an official Gutai member; he drew major attention because of his kami-yaburi paper breakthrough performances. In these events the artist, using his body’s momentum, busted through large sheets of paper that were stretched between a frame, tearing the screen-like objects while doing so. Sometimes he mounted many consecutive panels after each other like a tunnel, other times he slashed just one paper sheet at the time. He continued to perform and paint up until his death in 1996.