CLOUDS

Ay-O became artistically active as a university student, belonging to the Demokrato Artists Association led by Ei-Q, then moved to the United States in the 1960s and participated in the avant-garde Fluxus movement. In 1964 he began experimenting with rainbow colors across various media, including performance, prints, paintings, sculptures, and installations, and his Rainbow Series became his signature body of work. Ay-O explored gradients extensively, experimenting with ranges from 6 to 192 colors, though he often settled on a palette of 24 colors, as in this work. CLOUDS features two clouds floating in the sky, as with other works such as HEARTS and ANGELES in which elements invariably appear in pairs, illustrating the artist’s penchant for duality as a theme. (F.R.)