White in Onchi Kōshirō's Work in the 1930s: Abstraction, Aspiration, and Contradiction | CU Experts

Abstract: This essay centers on Onchi Kōshirō's conceptualization and use of white in the 1930s, an important period when he explored abstract art. The leader of the Creative Print Movement ( sōsaku hanga ), Onchi played an instrumental role in establishing the value of prints and abstraction. Meanwhile, the political atmosphere in Japan grew increasingly restrictive. I seek to understand how artists like Onchi navigated an environment of political censorship in pursuit of artistic freedom. This essay takes an interdisciplinary approach to examining color in Onchi's work. Moving away from prior scholarship's focus on the circle of the Creative Prints Movement and European influence, I highlight color as key to unlocking the multiplicity of Onchi's work in modern Japanese art, including its relationship with graphic design, material, light, music, and politics. Through close textual and visual analysis, I argue that white reflected Onchi's cultural identity, his developing sense of abstract art, and his innovative techniques to express the potential of printmaking. It is also through his writing and experiments with the materiality of color that we can glimpse how white illuminates the contradictions of imperialism.

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